Post by Kelly Melly on Aug 3, 2007 1:57:48 GMT -5
Hey! I just wanted to say thank you for reading this story. I am enjoying writing it. And I know that there aren't many reviews here but(and this goes against all I believe in) I am asking for them, please. I would really like for you to tell me if it is good and even if there are some things I need to work on. ESPECIALLY if there are things that I need to work on.
That being said, thank you to those who have reviewed.
SW-I loved this site and I loved your stories. Thanks for letting me post and for your kind words
Anonymous-Thank you for liking the story. You are great!
Myra2-That is so sweet that you remember me and my lousy stories after all this time. I appreciate your enthusiasm concerning this story. I remember that you wrote a story on the network54 board and I remember enjoying it too. That board does still exist, by the way, and I have posted my story on that board too. Are you writing a story on fanfiction.net? Or is that another Myra?
Thank you all who haven't reviewed as well. The fact that you took time to read this GWTW-loving-hick's fantasy fic is very sweet.
Alright, here it is.
Enjoy!
Several months had gone by with ease. Sometimes Scarlett thought about the fact that just a few short months had went by since her third child had been born. And it was quickly turning out that Eugenia Victoria, now called Bonnie Blue, was quickly becoming Scarlett’s favorite child; for she was such a pretty child and people always adored her and acknowledged this fact. This was the main reason she liked Bonnie so much. In people admitting that she was a beautiful child, they had unpremeditatedly complimented her. And she had always loved compliments.
Bonnie was growing quickly as well. She had now grown big enough that Mammy had deemed it proper for her to wear a little dress instead of the baby gowns she had been wearing since infancy. And it seemed that every time a new dress was bought, it was just as quickly discarded or given away because it was too little. Rhett seemed to care little about this, as did everyone else in the house. He dotted upon the infant as if she were a queen and he, her slave. Every spare moment he had was spent with her, and it irritated Scarlett that she was never able to have a moment alone with the child without Rhett being there.
But Rhett’s attentions to Bonnie hadn’t fazed the two older children in the slightest. In fact, they liked how Rhett pampered Bonnie. Because Bonnie spent most of her hours awake in the nursery with Wade and Ella, they got to spend more time with their Uncle Rhett with the new baby around. Their pleasure in this attention Rhett bestowed on the baby was only more appreciated when in Rhett’s fits of mollycoddling Bonnie with news gowns, rattles and bears, Wade and Ella always got a new trinket or toy. This they liked very much.
And Rhett did coddle Bonnie. Any chance he got he bought the new-born a toy or some other knickknack even if she hadn’t an idea as to what it was or how it worked. Scarlett and the rest of the household had thought that it was just that new-father feeling in him that was causing such spoiling. But when a huge box was delivered to their home one afternoon just before lunch which contained a stuffed elephant as tall as Scarlett and almost as wide as Mammy, Scarlett thought that he was taking it a little too far. Mammy shared Scarlett’s sentiment and let Rhett know when he arrived home that evening. He took the scolding well, his head hung low as if in shame for his actions. But, somehow, he managed to make Mammy repent, howbeit reluctantly and still with disapproval for his conduct.
But if Mammy had opted to stay silent, nothing would have been said. Because Scarlett wouldn’t have said anything. Ever since that evening a few months before, she and Rhett had barely spoken. Apart from a casual “hello…how are you” their conversations had come to be nonexistent. And Scarlett missed the comfortable way in which they used to commune. Though she would never let a soul know, and especially not Rhett.
He didn’t even hold her at night anymore as he used to.
In fact, he was rarely in the room by the time she fell asleep. And he was never there when she awoke the next morning. It seemed as if they both avoided each other at all costs, and in a lot of ways it was easy for them to do so. Rhett was often out doing…what ever it was he did. And Scarlett was either at one of her mills or at the store. Perhaps one of the reasons that she never talked with him was because she really didn’t see him very much. And deep down, she missed him.
There were many days when she would come home from the store or the mills, especially irritated with the manager or the books and she so wished that he would come in the room and ask her what was wrong as he used to. She would even endure him telling her that she was a fool for being upset about such a trivial things and even allow him to laugh at her. But he never did.
She really missed him at night when she woke from her dreadful dream. She would awaken on her own, and know that she had been thrashing about for she would be sweating and the sheets would be in a tangle around her legs, but he would still be lying next to her, seemingly fast asleep. When she awoke this way, she felt colder and emptier than when she was dreaming and she would silently cry herself to sleep. But Rhett would never move. ‘He must really hate me now’, she thought over and over when observing his conduct.
Where at one time she could have cared less about what Rhett thought of their marriage or of her, somehow in the few short months of silence between them she had come to care. And why this was she didn’t know, and she didn’t particularly like thinking about it.
Maybe it was because of their encounter in the parlor. Her mind often went back to that evening. How he seemed to be so emotional about her and Ashley, almost passionate. Then he had kissed her. He had only kissed her like that twice before that time, and all three times she had felt something. What that something was, she didn’t know. Maybe it was…she didn’t know.
Perhaps it was because now he seemed not to care. Not that he seemed to really care before but…Ahh! This was why she hated to think about it. She always came to the same dead end with every theory. Somehow, she knew that she could come to a conclusion because of so many unanswered questions between her and Rhett and inside of herself. But she wasn’t brave enough to seek answers from Rhett for fear of his jesting or clever enough to answer them herself.
Or maybe she just didn’t want those questions answered, for fear of what the answers would be.
Nevertheless, her life went on. And it seemed to pass by her more quickly than it ever had. Perhaps it was because this new South had a hustled and quick pace such as she had never known. Or perhaps, perhaps it was because she was getting older. She didn’t know. But time was passing, and with great advance. ; So fast, that when the month of June came she hadn’t realized that it was the anniversary of her father’s death.
Scarlett was reminded of this when she was walking down the street and heard in the distance the sound of Irish voices straining together in the tune of “Peg in a Low-Backed Car”. This song always reminded her of her father and when she heard it and she realized it was indeed the anniversary of his death, she could barely control the tears that came to her eyes. She rushed home quickly, but by the time she reached the house her need to cry had ceased. But she could still hear the song ringing in her head, even as the night progressed.
She had eaten supper in a hurry and went to bed early and fell into a restless sleep, only to wake up just a few hours later. The song still rang in her ears, and all she could see when she closed her eyes was her father, riding atop his prized stead and yelling out to her mother ‘Look, Ellen! Watch me take this one!’. And these visions led to her mother and memories of a past that she had been trying to block out for years. So many wonderful memories that she couldn’t bear to think about because the pain was too great.
She sat up in the bed quickly and almost jumped out of the bed into the dark room. She had no fear of waking Rhett, or anyone else for that matter. She just had to get these thoughts and memories out of her head! She couldn’t take it! She needed a drink. That was just the thing to take her mind off of the pain of remembering the past.
She swiftly wrapped her wrapper around her, clutching it to her middle as she exited her room and walked down the hall to descend the stairs. She entered the dining room, not even bothering to light a candle. There was enough moonlight coming there the window that she could see well enough, and didn’t care about anything about abolishing these hurtful thoughts.
She quickly approached the cabinet where Rhett kept his liquor, and picked of the first decanter she touched. She didn’t know what kind of drink it was and she was beyond caring. Her deft hands quickly removed the top and poured an ample amount of the dark liquid into a glass. With an efficient hand, she downed the liquid in one gulp, only to cough most of it back up.
She heard a soft, but distinct chuckle inside of the room and at the sound of it she nearly dropped her cup.
“I’m guessing that you weren’t excepting Bourbon, my dear.” It was Rhett. He chuckled again.
She looked in the direction of the laugh, and saw a small flame of a match flickering which brightened once the flame met the end of the ragged candle. The room filled with sudden light and Scarlett’s eyes had trouble adjusting. The new light was definitely not the only reason she was having trouble with her sight at the moment.
She squinted at the light.
“What?”, she said with some irritation.
Rhett started to walk towards her and took the cup from her hands. He leaned over and reached into the cabinet to pull out a vask of brandy and poured it into the cup and handed it to her. “Bourbon. The drink that you coughed up so graciously. You were looking for brandy. Not nearly as strong.” She took the drink from his hand and downed it with practiced skill. Once she had set the glass on the table again and had looked up into Rhett’s face, she knew that he had noticed for his eyes shined with amusement.
“My! How nicely you take your brandy, my dear. We will make a gentleman out of you, yet.” He smiled at her with sarcasm, but his eyes held no malice.
She looked into his face and saw that he was teasing her, and it warmed her. It had been so long since he had. But the warmth faded quickly and it gave way when she thought again of the reason why she had headed for the bottle with such urgency. The bourbon and brandy must have made her acutely aware of her feelings, and she burst into a sudden tears.
She sat there for a moment, leaning on the table, sobbing. Then without warning, Rhett’s arms came swiftly around her. When she was fully pressed against him, she started to cry harder. He held her close for what seemed to be a long time. He patted her shoulder with care and murmured soft utterances in her ear that she didn’t comprehend, if they were meant to be comprehended. When her cries finally started to subside, Rhett lead her to a chair and sat her down. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to her. She wondered for a moment, as she wiped her eyes, why it was that he always seemed to have a handkerchief. She voiced her question aloud.
“Rhett, why is it that you always have a handkerchief when I need it?”, she smiled, amusement slightly hanging off her words.
R
hett laughed softly at her question. “Well, my dear, it really has nothing to do with you.” He leaned down close to her face and whispered. “When I was a boy, my father had a dog that was like a second son to him. But when I got around him, I couldn’t stop sneezing. My mother, for a long time, just thought that it was a chronic cold. She even called the doctor several times in alarm for my health and well-being. Well, our doctor was a fool, because when I was about fifteen I realized that when I was around the dog, I sneezed and coughed, and when I wasn’t around the dog, I didn’t. It ended up being all those years of tonics and medicines only amounted to one simple thing. An allergy. So carrying a handkerchief got to be a sort of habit of mine. I always have a handkerchief somewhere nearby.” He smiled, and she did too. She realized with a start that this was the first time Rhett had ever revealed anything to her about his childhood. But she was still too distressed to linger on this fact. She sniffed a little, as she felt a few stray tears running down her cheeks
“There now darling,” he said as he took the handkerchief from her hands and wiped her eyes himself. “What is it that has you so upset?”
She looked at him and upon seeing the understanding written in his generally emotionless eyes, she told him about her father and the importance of that day. Poured out to him how much she missed her father. Then she told him of her problems with dealing with her past and the memories. Spoke of her mother. Even reminisced on how Tara had once been. And somehow, telling Rhett all of these things, lead to her telling him of the problems she had been having in just the past few months. From the smallest, trivial problems, to some of the troubles that had her mind so boggled she didn’t know what to do about them.
She didn’t know how long they sat there while she poured out her heart, with Rhett’s hand holding hers gently in his own. Several hours at least. And the whole time Rhett listened, and listened with no appearance of impatience at her prattle. His eyes never lost their understanding and, dare she say, caring look that they had held from the beginning. He was once again her confidant, as he had been when she had just started her business and was still married to Frank. But this time it was different. This time she didn’t just share her fiscal burdens but her inner burdens. The burdens that she hadn’t spoken to anyone about, and didn’t care to think about. She didn’t understand it, but something in the way he looked at her and held her hand, gave her the courage to face those beautiful and awful memories and the pain that accompanied them.
When she was finally done, and had exhausted all of her problems away, the faintest hints of morning could be seem at the horizon. Scarlett could barely keep her eyes opened. She was so tired from her soul bearing and tears that when she and Rhett finally stood to go to their room; she had to lean against Rhett as they approached the stairs. Once they reached the stairs, instead of laboring up the stairs together, Rhett swept Scarlett into his arms with ease and carried her with little trouble up the flight of stairs.
Once they reached the bedroom, Rhett placed Scarlett on her side of the bed and covered her with the quilt. She looked at him with appreciation written clearly in her eyes. This was a rare, almost nonexistent, moment between the two of them. They were used to the battling and bickering. Never letting the other one get inside their armor, to their weak point. But tonight all guards had been let down on both sides, and Scarlett spoke without fear of teasing or rejection.
“Rhett, I don’t know what I would do without you sometimes.” She blinked sleepily, but had a small grin on her lips.
She heard his small intake of breath at her words, and felt the slight tightening of his hand on the quilt. For a moment she thought she even felt him reach for her, but he didn’t.
She heard his laugh softly as he said, “Well, I suppose you would go your whole life choking on bourbon instead of drinking brandy.”
In the past few months he had given her his courteous peck on the check when he would arrive home. But had taken no further advances. Tonight, he leaned over her, and for the first time in months kissed her gently on her lips. He lingered there for a moment, just long enough that she was able to kiss him back. Then he raised his head to meet her eyes, and she smiled a genuine smile. Albeit, a tired one.
Rhett brought his hand to her cheek and stroke it once before turning around to head for his side of the bed.
Scarlett was asleep before he even lifted the covers.
That being said, thank you to those who have reviewed.
SW-I loved this site and I loved your stories. Thanks for letting me post and for your kind words
Anonymous-Thank you for liking the story. You are great!
Myra2-That is so sweet that you remember me and my lousy stories after all this time. I appreciate your enthusiasm concerning this story. I remember that you wrote a story on the network54 board and I remember enjoying it too. That board does still exist, by the way, and I have posted my story on that board too. Are you writing a story on fanfiction.net? Or is that another Myra?
Thank you all who haven't reviewed as well. The fact that you took time to read this GWTW-loving-hick's fantasy fic is very sweet.
Alright, here it is.
Enjoy!
Several months had gone by with ease. Sometimes Scarlett thought about the fact that just a few short months had went by since her third child had been born. And it was quickly turning out that Eugenia Victoria, now called Bonnie Blue, was quickly becoming Scarlett’s favorite child; for she was such a pretty child and people always adored her and acknowledged this fact. This was the main reason she liked Bonnie so much. In people admitting that she was a beautiful child, they had unpremeditatedly complimented her. And she had always loved compliments.
Bonnie was growing quickly as well. She had now grown big enough that Mammy had deemed it proper for her to wear a little dress instead of the baby gowns she had been wearing since infancy. And it seemed that every time a new dress was bought, it was just as quickly discarded or given away because it was too little. Rhett seemed to care little about this, as did everyone else in the house. He dotted upon the infant as if she were a queen and he, her slave. Every spare moment he had was spent with her, and it irritated Scarlett that she was never able to have a moment alone with the child without Rhett being there.
But Rhett’s attentions to Bonnie hadn’t fazed the two older children in the slightest. In fact, they liked how Rhett pampered Bonnie. Because Bonnie spent most of her hours awake in the nursery with Wade and Ella, they got to spend more time with their Uncle Rhett with the new baby around. Their pleasure in this attention Rhett bestowed on the baby was only more appreciated when in Rhett’s fits of mollycoddling Bonnie with news gowns, rattles and bears, Wade and Ella always got a new trinket or toy. This they liked very much.
And Rhett did coddle Bonnie. Any chance he got he bought the new-born a toy or some other knickknack even if she hadn’t an idea as to what it was or how it worked. Scarlett and the rest of the household had thought that it was just that new-father feeling in him that was causing such spoiling. But when a huge box was delivered to their home one afternoon just before lunch which contained a stuffed elephant as tall as Scarlett and almost as wide as Mammy, Scarlett thought that he was taking it a little too far. Mammy shared Scarlett’s sentiment and let Rhett know when he arrived home that evening. He took the scolding well, his head hung low as if in shame for his actions. But, somehow, he managed to make Mammy repent, howbeit reluctantly and still with disapproval for his conduct.
But if Mammy had opted to stay silent, nothing would have been said. Because Scarlett wouldn’t have said anything. Ever since that evening a few months before, she and Rhett had barely spoken. Apart from a casual “hello…how are you” their conversations had come to be nonexistent. And Scarlett missed the comfortable way in which they used to commune. Though she would never let a soul know, and especially not Rhett.
He didn’t even hold her at night anymore as he used to.
In fact, he was rarely in the room by the time she fell asleep. And he was never there when she awoke the next morning. It seemed as if they both avoided each other at all costs, and in a lot of ways it was easy for them to do so. Rhett was often out doing…what ever it was he did. And Scarlett was either at one of her mills or at the store. Perhaps one of the reasons that she never talked with him was because she really didn’t see him very much. And deep down, she missed him.
There were many days when she would come home from the store or the mills, especially irritated with the manager or the books and she so wished that he would come in the room and ask her what was wrong as he used to. She would even endure him telling her that she was a fool for being upset about such a trivial things and even allow him to laugh at her. But he never did.
She really missed him at night when she woke from her dreadful dream. She would awaken on her own, and know that she had been thrashing about for she would be sweating and the sheets would be in a tangle around her legs, but he would still be lying next to her, seemingly fast asleep. When she awoke this way, she felt colder and emptier than when she was dreaming and she would silently cry herself to sleep. But Rhett would never move. ‘He must really hate me now’, she thought over and over when observing his conduct.
Where at one time she could have cared less about what Rhett thought of their marriage or of her, somehow in the few short months of silence between them she had come to care. And why this was she didn’t know, and she didn’t particularly like thinking about it.
Maybe it was because of their encounter in the parlor. Her mind often went back to that evening. How he seemed to be so emotional about her and Ashley, almost passionate. Then he had kissed her. He had only kissed her like that twice before that time, and all three times she had felt something. What that something was, she didn’t know. Maybe it was…she didn’t know.
Perhaps it was because now he seemed not to care. Not that he seemed to really care before but…Ahh! This was why she hated to think about it. She always came to the same dead end with every theory. Somehow, she knew that she could come to a conclusion because of so many unanswered questions between her and Rhett and inside of herself. But she wasn’t brave enough to seek answers from Rhett for fear of his jesting or clever enough to answer them herself.
Or maybe she just didn’t want those questions answered, for fear of what the answers would be.
Nevertheless, her life went on. And it seemed to pass by her more quickly than it ever had. Perhaps it was because this new South had a hustled and quick pace such as she had never known. Or perhaps, perhaps it was because she was getting older. She didn’t know. But time was passing, and with great advance. ; So fast, that when the month of June came she hadn’t realized that it was the anniversary of her father’s death.
Scarlett was reminded of this when she was walking down the street and heard in the distance the sound of Irish voices straining together in the tune of “Peg in a Low-Backed Car”. This song always reminded her of her father and when she heard it and she realized it was indeed the anniversary of his death, she could barely control the tears that came to her eyes. She rushed home quickly, but by the time she reached the house her need to cry had ceased. But she could still hear the song ringing in her head, even as the night progressed.
She had eaten supper in a hurry and went to bed early and fell into a restless sleep, only to wake up just a few hours later. The song still rang in her ears, and all she could see when she closed her eyes was her father, riding atop his prized stead and yelling out to her mother ‘Look, Ellen! Watch me take this one!’. And these visions led to her mother and memories of a past that she had been trying to block out for years. So many wonderful memories that she couldn’t bear to think about because the pain was too great.
She sat up in the bed quickly and almost jumped out of the bed into the dark room. She had no fear of waking Rhett, or anyone else for that matter. She just had to get these thoughts and memories out of her head! She couldn’t take it! She needed a drink. That was just the thing to take her mind off of the pain of remembering the past.
She swiftly wrapped her wrapper around her, clutching it to her middle as she exited her room and walked down the hall to descend the stairs. She entered the dining room, not even bothering to light a candle. There was enough moonlight coming there the window that she could see well enough, and didn’t care about anything about abolishing these hurtful thoughts.
She quickly approached the cabinet where Rhett kept his liquor, and picked of the first decanter she touched. She didn’t know what kind of drink it was and she was beyond caring. Her deft hands quickly removed the top and poured an ample amount of the dark liquid into a glass. With an efficient hand, she downed the liquid in one gulp, only to cough most of it back up.
She heard a soft, but distinct chuckle inside of the room and at the sound of it she nearly dropped her cup.
“I’m guessing that you weren’t excepting Bourbon, my dear.” It was Rhett. He chuckled again.
She looked in the direction of the laugh, and saw a small flame of a match flickering which brightened once the flame met the end of the ragged candle. The room filled with sudden light and Scarlett’s eyes had trouble adjusting. The new light was definitely not the only reason she was having trouble with her sight at the moment.
She squinted at the light.
“What?”, she said with some irritation.
Rhett started to walk towards her and took the cup from her hands. He leaned over and reached into the cabinet to pull out a vask of brandy and poured it into the cup and handed it to her. “Bourbon. The drink that you coughed up so graciously. You were looking for brandy. Not nearly as strong.” She took the drink from his hand and downed it with practiced skill. Once she had set the glass on the table again and had looked up into Rhett’s face, she knew that he had noticed for his eyes shined with amusement.
“My! How nicely you take your brandy, my dear. We will make a gentleman out of you, yet.” He smiled at her with sarcasm, but his eyes held no malice.
She looked into his face and saw that he was teasing her, and it warmed her. It had been so long since he had. But the warmth faded quickly and it gave way when she thought again of the reason why she had headed for the bottle with such urgency. The bourbon and brandy must have made her acutely aware of her feelings, and she burst into a sudden tears.
She sat there for a moment, leaning on the table, sobbing. Then without warning, Rhett’s arms came swiftly around her. When she was fully pressed against him, she started to cry harder. He held her close for what seemed to be a long time. He patted her shoulder with care and murmured soft utterances in her ear that she didn’t comprehend, if they were meant to be comprehended. When her cries finally started to subside, Rhett lead her to a chair and sat her down. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to her. She wondered for a moment, as she wiped her eyes, why it was that he always seemed to have a handkerchief. She voiced her question aloud.
“Rhett, why is it that you always have a handkerchief when I need it?”, she smiled, amusement slightly hanging off her words.
R
hett laughed softly at her question. “Well, my dear, it really has nothing to do with you.” He leaned down close to her face and whispered. “When I was a boy, my father had a dog that was like a second son to him. But when I got around him, I couldn’t stop sneezing. My mother, for a long time, just thought that it was a chronic cold. She even called the doctor several times in alarm for my health and well-being. Well, our doctor was a fool, because when I was about fifteen I realized that when I was around the dog, I sneezed and coughed, and when I wasn’t around the dog, I didn’t. It ended up being all those years of tonics and medicines only amounted to one simple thing. An allergy. So carrying a handkerchief got to be a sort of habit of mine. I always have a handkerchief somewhere nearby.” He smiled, and she did too. She realized with a start that this was the first time Rhett had ever revealed anything to her about his childhood. But she was still too distressed to linger on this fact. She sniffed a little, as she felt a few stray tears running down her cheeks
“There now darling,” he said as he took the handkerchief from her hands and wiped her eyes himself. “What is it that has you so upset?”
She looked at him and upon seeing the understanding written in his generally emotionless eyes, she told him about her father and the importance of that day. Poured out to him how much she missed her father. Then she told him of her problems with dealing with her past and the memories. Spoke of her mother. Even reminisced on how Tara had once been. And somehow, telling Rhett all of these things, lead to her telling him of the problems she had been having in just the past few months. From the smallest, trivial problems, to some of the troubles that had her mind so boggled she didn’t know what to do about them.
She didn’t know how long they sat there while she poured out her heart, with Rhett’s hand holding hers gently in his own. Several hours at least. And the whole time Rhett listened, and listened with no appearance of impatience at her prattle. His eyes never lost their understanding and, dare she say, caring look that they had held from the beginning. He was once again her confidant, as he had been when she had just started her business and was still married to Frank. But this time it was different. This time she didn’t just share her fiscal burdens but her inner burdens. The burdens that she hadn’t spoken to anyone about, and didn’t care to think about. She didn’t understand it, but something in the way he looked at her and held her hand, gave her the courage to face those beautiful and awful memories and the pain that accompanied them.
When she was finally done, and had exhausted all of her problems away, the faintest hints of morning could be seem at the horizon. Scarlett could barely keep her eyes opened. She was so tired from her soul bearing and tears that when she and Rhett finally stood to go to their room; she had to lean against Rhett as they approached the stairs. Once they reached the stairs, instead of laboring up the stairs together, Rhett swept Scarlett into his arms with ease and carried her with little trouble up the flight of stairs.
Once they reached the bedroom, Rhett placed Scarlett on her side of the bed and covered her with the quilt. She looked at him with appreciation written clearly in her eyes. This was a rare, almost nonexistent, moment between the two of them. They were used to the battling and bickering. Never letting the other one get inside their armor, to their weak point. But tonight all guards had been let down on both sides, and Scarlett spoke without fear of teasing or rejection.
“Rhett, I don’t know what I would do without you sometimes.” She blinked sleepily, but had a small grin on her lips.
She heard his small intake of breath at her words, and felt the slight tightening of his hand on the quilt. For a moment she thought she even felt him reach for her, but he didn’t.
She heard his laugh softly as he said, “Well, I suppose you would go your whole life choking on bourbon instead of drinking brandy.”
In the past few months he had given her his courteous peck on the check when he would arrive home. But had taken no further advances. Tonight, he leaned over her, and for the first time in months kissed her gently on her lips. He lingered there for a moment, just long enough that she was able to kiss him back. Then he raised his head to meet her eyes, and she smiled a genuine smile. Albeit, a tired one.
Rhett brought his hand to her cheek and stroke it once before turning around to head for his side of the bed.
Scarlett was asleep before he even lifted the covers.
