Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews.

As Misscyn said in her review. It's always bothered me Rhett would spend so much time at Belle's, sleep with her, live in her house, set her up in business, say they're great friends and then call her an illiterate wh*** to Scarlett in his final lecture I mean speech. All that time Rhett was probably whining and crying about how bad Scarlett was to him. I might add that Rhett was always throwing Belle up to Scarlett as better than her and at the end we find out he just thought of her as an illiterate wh***. I have given her the ability to read but even without that she managed and ran a successful business from that alone she deserves respect. Enough! I will get off my soapbox and continue with the story. 😊

Chapter Seven

Scarlett was still in Galveston. Scarlett really liked living on the island. Her life was good. She was received and there was not any scandal attached to her. She was invited to all the social events. She was received at every household on the island. Her children were invited to all the birthday parties and all the children came to her children's birthday parties. She would never have been able to accomplish that in Atlanta especially after she married Rhett.

She would walk on the beach every morning. It was what most of the good people did every morning. It made her laugh at how many times other ladies stopped to talk to her. She was well liked by most of the gentry. She had been the modicum of decorum since she had arrived in Galveston. Her life wasn't like her life in Georgia had been. She had learned how easy it was to lose one's reputation and how hard it was to get it back.

Sometimes she thought of her past life and wondered if she could have done better. But like Rhett had said after Frank's funeral, 'Given the same circumstances she would have done the same thing.' He was right. She had come to terms with her past and especially her part in Frank's death. She felt sorry that Frank had been killed on her behalf but she no longer felt guilty. He was a good man who had done what he had thought best in the circumstances. She had been doing what she thought was best in the circumstances also. She was no more responsible for his death than she was for Charlie's. She had accepted her past and hopefully had learned from it.

She had bought a little house for her, the children and Mammy. It was five bedrooms and was in the Victorian style. She had three other servants besides Mammy. A cook named Liberty, a washer woman named Ruth, and a maid named Sarah to help keep the house clean. She also had a tutor, Mr. Wallace, for Wade.

Mammy ran the household. She didn't want to think about what she would have done if Mammy hadn't come with her. Mammy had given the children a sense of security they had needed. She had needed that sense of security also. Scarlett was a good mother now. She was a much better mother than she had been three years ago. When she stopped thinking of Wade and Ella as Charlie and Frank's children and started thinking of them as her own, she developed real affection for them. She loved them.

Wade had been talking about going to school in Texas instead of going to Harvard. Wade wasn't sure if he wanted to be a lawyer or not. He had been talking about becoming a Texas Ranger. The thought made Scarlett shiver because of the danger Wade would be in when he was on duty. She wasn't worried though he was just an eight-year-old boy who hopefully would grow out of that foolish idea. Ella was just as sweet as she always had been. She was definitely Frank's daughter. She looked just like him except for her eyes and her smile. It now made Scarlett smile when she thought about how much her children looked like their fathers. They were living legacies of two really good men.

She would get letters from Melly that Uncle Henry sent to her but she would not write back. She couldn't take the chance of Rhett finding her and ruining what she had created for herself here on the island. She did so look forward to Melly's letters. She missed Melly more than she thought possible. Melly had always been on her side no matter what. Melanie had been such a good friend to her and all she had done was wish her dead and covet her husband. She had felt such sadness, shame and guilt when she thought about Melly that she had finally told Mammy. Mammy had not been shocked. Scarlett didn't think she could do anything to shock Mammy and in spite of all the awful things she had done Mammy still loved her. That always humbled Scarlett nowadays. Mammy had listened as Scarlett had talked about her feelings toward Melly. Mammy had made a few comments and asked a few questions. When Scarlett had asked Mammy what to do. Mammy had said, "You have to decide that for yourself but you might start by forgiving yourself for being a selfish, self-centered, prideful person."

Scarlett at first had been offended by what Mammy had said and had walked off in a huff. Yet Scarlett had thought about it all the next couple of days then in all honesty she agreed. She told Mammy, "You are right. I will work on forgiving myself for being that person."

"You aren't that person now child. You have finally grown up."

"Thank you, Mammy. That means a lot coming from you."

Scarlett had forgiven herself for being that person and for what she had thought and felt about Melly. More and more she could think about Melly and remember the good times.

Scarlett did miss Rhett. She missed his teasing. She missed someone who she could be herself with besides Mammy and the children. She missed discussing her plans for the store with him or her plans for her money. He had always given her such good advice. He had always made her laugh even if it was at herself. She made herself remember he was a cruel man who didn't think very highly of her. He had never given her the respect she deserved. She forced herself to remember at best she was a cruel cat or at worst just a body to him. No matter what she told herself the longer she was away from him the more she missed him.

She had done well financially for herself here in Galveston. The population had doubled in size in the last three years. She had heard there were now over thirteen thousand people living on the island. She had bought up as many houses as she could afford that first six months she had lived here. She had bought a couple of parcels of land on the north side hoping that would be the way the town grew. It had grown south instead but she wasn't worried. There was only so much island so sooner or later all the parcels would sell. As long as she had the money to pay the taxes, she could keep them forever.

She had bought up the land when she first arrived in the city because survivors were selling it so cheap. She had managed to resell it at quite a bit of profit while always acting like they were getting the better of her. Rhett had been the only man to not fall for that southern belle façade. Everyone else just accepted it as true. She was fine with them thinking she was stupid. She had over thirty-five thousand dollars in US Bonds in her strong box. She had rented the apartment above the store to a young couple just starting out. She made enough from the store and the rental to cover her monthly expenses. She had thought about opening another location of Jacob's General Store but had decided against it. She had obtained a good balance between her time at the store and her personal time. She had time to spend with her children, socialize with her friends and read her books. Melly would have been proud that she had turned into such a bibliophile. She laughed at herself. The first time she had seen that word she had thought it meant someone who loved the bible. Luckily, she had looked it up in her dictionary to be sure.

Lately she had allowed gentlemen to start calling on her but if they weren't interesting, she ran them off. She had long since outgrown the need to have a man's empty adoration. They had to treat her with respect and talk to her like she had a brain. She could play the part of a Southern Belle to make money but she no longer could maintain the façade for very long.

Rhett was on a train to New Orleans to conduct some business. He would see his ward while he was there. He would look up some business acquaintances. Maybe play some poker. He was always lucky at cards. What was that saying? Oh yeah. Lucky at cards, unlucky at love. He proved that adage.

When Rhett arrived in New Orleans, he checked into the Magnolia Hotel. He got a suite as always. He looked up his ward, Nathan Anderson, and the young man was doing fine. Rhett had him enrolled at St. Matthew's Preparatory School. The young man was almost eighteen and he wanted to go to Tulane. Rhett had agreed. It was only money.

Nate had been the son of one of his mistresses. The boy was not his but he had liked him. He had gotten to know the boy while seeing Angela. He had tired of Angela after only three months but had continued keeping her for another three months because of the boy. He had told Angela they were finished but he would like to continue seeing Nate. Angela had not cared. When Rhett had suggested becoming Nate's guardian Angela was happy to be relieved of the responsibility. That is how he became Nate's guardian. Rhett had arranged for Nate to start attending St. Matthew's as a boarder. Rhett had even paid an older couple to take care of Nate in the summer time. Rhett could tell there was real affection between the older couple and Nate. He enjoyed being around Nate and was happy the boy had aspirations. Angela had died about six years ago from a botched abortion. Rhett had not found out about her death until a year after it had happened. When he told the boy, all Nate had said was alright. Rhett had wondered if Nate had grieved over his mother's death at all or if Angela had been dead to the boy already.

Having supper with Nate had made him think about Wade Hamilton. He wondered how the boy was doing. Had Scarlett remarried? Probably. Scarlett was not the type of girl to stay single long. There was always some man who wanted to marry her. He was one of them. He still couldn't believe how badly he had misplayed that situation. When he was honest with himself, he had believed she would never leave Mr. Wilkes and she would have married him for his money no matter how rude and hurtful he was. He often wondered what had transpired after he walked out of the Hamilton House with her yelling at him. He would never know. Maybe she had an insightful moment. That was just his luck. The one time he didn't need her to be insightful she was. He shook his head and return his attention to Nate.

The next day he did business with a man he had known for a long time. They went to lunch and then to a saloon. They played a few hands of poker just to pass the time of day. The man, Tim Dalton, was the same age as Rhett give or take five years. He wasn't a big man but he was solidly built. The man had brown hair and brown eyes and a mustache. Rhett said, "Where are you heading when you leave New Orleans?"

Tim said, "I'm heading back to Galveston in Texas. It is a nice place. I bought a home there. I have been courting a sweet, young widow who lives there."

Rhett said, "I can't believe you are settling down."

Tim said, "There is only so much whiskey one can drink, so many whores one can use, and so many people one can swindle before one is completely burnt out."

Rhett said, "I am there also. I can't remember the last time I had a whore or played a real game of poker. Now a days I spend most of my time by myself and reading books."

Tim said, "What was her name?"

Rhett just looked at his friend.

Tim laughed and said, "Isn't there always a woman?"

Rhett said, "Her name was Scarlett, Scarlett O'Hara. She really wasn't that beautiful but there was something about her that grab my heart and held on. She wasn't even that nice but she had me when she threw a vase across a room in a temper tantrum." Rhett smiled when he thought about the memory.

Tim said, "What happened? You are not the kind of man that a woman usually walks away from."

Rhett said, "I overplayed my hand. I was overconfident. I thought I knew her so well that I knew what she was thinking before she even thought it. I insulted her both verbally and physically then walked out the door and sailed away to England. I was completely convinced she would be there when I got back. I was so overconfident that when she sent me a letter terminating our relationship, I never even acknowledged it. I just continued sending her letters like everything was fine. Everything was not fine. She sold all of her holdings, packed up her belongings and took the train out of town. She never looked back. Nobody has ever heard from her again. She moved away and never told anybody where she had gone; not her sister, not her aunts or her best friend, her sister in law."

Tim said, "That is pretty extreme. Why do you think that she did all that just to get away from you? She could have just told you to go away."

"I may have threatened to ruin her if she didn't marry me. I guess she believed me."

"So, she gave up everything just to get away from you."

Rhett was startled by the statement then admitted the truth of it by saying, "It appears so."

"We learn from our mistakes. Come with me to Galveston. You just might like the city and decide to settle down there. There are plenty of beautiful women that will make you forget about this Scarlett O'Hara"

Rhett didn't think there was a woman who would make him forget about Scarlett but maybe there was a woman he could settled down with. Rhett said, "I think I will. I don't have anything else going on."