Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

Chapter Forty-Eight

As Rhett and Suellen entered Mr. Holmes's office, the secretary said, "Can I help you?"

"We need to see Mr. Holmes on an urgent matter. Unfortunately, we don't have an appointment and we don't have time to wait to schedule one."

"Let me check with Mr. Holmes to see if we can work you in."

Al knew that they would work the man in, but then they would charge him a premium price. Al verified his thoughts with his boss. He returned to the waiting room. He said, "Mr. Holmes said your business will have to be quick."

"Perfect."

After thirty minutes of waiting Rhett and Suellen had walked into the lawyer's office. In that entire thirty minutes they had not spoken. Rhett had been disgusted by Suellen. She hadn't asked about her baby at all.

Suellen had been trying to think of a way to salvage her reputation in Galveston.

Oliver asked them to sit down. Oliver said, "How may I help you?"

Rhett said, "My friend, Joan Rivers, is in quite the pickle. She and her sister Suellen Benteen.

"Susan Ellinor O'Hara Benteen."

"Yes. They came out here to Galveston to start a new life."

"A lot of people do."

Suellen said, "My sister, Susan, and her good friend Frank Kennedy died during that outbreak of yellow fever we had last summer. I have heard that Frank's cousin Tony is laying claim to my store."

"How horrible."

Rhett said, "Yes, what we were thinking was that is Joan could sign a document stating that Susan was Frank's heir and Joan was Susan's heir then Tony couldn't take the store away from her."

Suellen said, "The store is my only means of support. Susan was my only living relative."

"How horrible for you Mrs….."

"Rivers."

"Mrs. Rivers. We will cross all the t's and dot all the I's. You need to sign a document stating that your sister and her friend are both dead also."

"Yes, of course."

Oliver thought their story had so many holes in it that it could be Swiss cheese. He didn't care. He said, "I can help you, Mrs. Rivers, as long as you will swear on the bible all of this is true."

"Of course."

"My fees will be a mere twenty dollars."

Rhett said, "Twenty dollars? I thought things were cheaper on the frontier."

"Not all things. You do have to pay a premium rate because of your desire to have it all done this afternoon."

Rhett was going to pay the lawyer his asking price. He would have paid twice that much to get Scarlett free, but he couldn't let the man think he had won so easily. He said, "Let me think."

Suellen leaned forward and whispered loud enough for Oliver to hear, "We have to do it. It is the only way to stop Tony."

"Very well. As long as all the documentation is done today."

"Of course. Of course."

An hour later, Rhett and Suellen left Oliver's office with the documents in their hands. Rhett had the documents that said Frank Kennedy and Susan Ellinor O'Hara Benteen were dead and Suellen had the document that said the store was hers. Oliver was twenty dollars richer.

Rhett and Suellen parted company outside the lawyer's office.

Rhett said as way of goodbye, "I assume I will never see you again."

"Right back at you. Don't ever darken my door again."

"By the way, you cold-hearted bitch, Susie is doing fine. She is thriving, no thanks to you."

Just to show how cold-hearted Suellen really was, she said, "Who?"

Suellen was rewarded for her statement by watching Rhett's face contort in anger. Suellen turned away and walked off. Suellen was not as unfeeling as she had pretended to be, but with her decision to leave her daughter behind, she had struck the child from her mind, if not her heart. It just hurt too much to think about her child, even if she was the daughter of a Cracker.

Rhett proved how cold-hearted he was by dismissing Susie from his mind also. As he walked along, he was thinking, 'If I can get Scarlett to marry me on April the tenth, the timeline will be the same and we can get Bonnie back.'

As Suellen walked back to her store she was thinking, 'I have to get out of town fast. I have to go somewhere nobody can find me. I don't trust that man to never show up again. If Scarlett needed something, like the puppy dog he is, the man would be right back out here demanding it of me. I sent that telegram and in less than seventy-two hours the man was here in Texas causing me grief.

Suellen stopped by the bank and withdrew all the money from the store's account and her personal account. When she got back to the store, she said to Edgar, "I am leaving town. I will give you the store. Here is one of the documents you will need." Suellen handed Edgar the paper in her hand. She then walked to the cash register and lifted the till. She got the paper that was underneath it and signed it. She signed it Frank Carter. She handed it to Edgar. Edgar knew that Mrs. Carter had just forged Mr. Carter's signature, but he didn't care. He was going to get rid of her and own the store. Suellen continued, "Here is Frank's key to the store and this one is to the apartment upstairs. Let me pack my clothing and I will be gone before tomorrow morning."

"Very well, Mrs. Carter."

Suellen walked over to the door and turned the sign around, "We are closed. Go home. Have a great life."

"You too."

Edgar walked out of the store knowing something fishy had happened that afternoon, but he wasn't going to tell anyone. He had a store and a home.

Suellen started to count out the money that was in the till. Then she stopped. She needed Edgar to be happy with her. Therefore, she left all the money in the till.

Suellen walked up the stairs. Once she was upstairs, she realized she needed a better trunk than she already had. The trunk had been Frank's. It was old and worn out, just like Frank. Besides, she wanted to leave all of her past behind.

The store had a brand-new trunk on the display floor. Not for long. While Suellen was getting the trunk, she saw the matching carpet bag. She grabbed that too.

At six o'clock that night Suellen left the store Frank had bought less than a year before. As she walked to the train station, she decided that Rhett had been right. Sending that telegram had been a mistake. Her biggest so far. Running off with Frank had been her second biggest mistake. Mentioning the Slatterys to Pa had been her third biggest mistake. How had Scarlett known that would be so disastrous? She didn't care. Marrying Will hadn't been a mistake, but it certainly hadn't been a triumphant action.

Suddenly, Suellen said to herself, "Forget all that. You are starting a new life. What is your new name going to be? I will keep Sue, but not Suellen. My real first name is Susan so that works. Sue what?" She was busy thinking all the way to the train station.

The next train leaving Galveston was heading toward Houston. In Houston, Sue heard a couple talking about moving to Denver, Colorado and she decided it was as good a place as anywhere else. She bought a ticket for Denver.

As Sue settled in her seat for her fifty-four-hour trip, she felt good. She had almost seven hundred dollars. She had been so surprised when she found Frank's stash of money. At the time she had wondered how much of it was Scarlett's. At least, three hundred dollars. That had made her laugh. She was laughing again. She was so happy. She was leaving her old life behind. She was no longer a store owner, a cracker's wife, a rich planter's daughter, a Robillard, but best of all she was no longer Scarlett's younger sister. She was now Susan Boyle, a widow trying to escape the painful memories of her past life.

A thought passed through Suellen's mind that Scarlett had once again bested her. She smiled. Scarlett O'Hara no longer mattered to her because she was Susan Boyle, and she didn't have any sisters. In fact, she was an only child.

That same evening, Careen and Will were talking about how good the harvest was going to be for the winter vegetables. She smiled and said, "We have some canning to do in our future."

"Our future?"

"I helped you with picking our cotton, you can help me with canning our vegetables."

"You bet."

Careen and Will were quiet for a few minutes as they looked at the clearing in front of the house. Susie was there with Mammy. Mammy kept standing the child up then holding her. Mammy would slowly let go. Susie was standing by herself more and more.

Will said, "Shouldn't she be walking already?"

"I don't think so. Mammy said all children progress at their own rate."

"Thank you for throwing Susie a first birthday party."

"I was happy to do it."

"I am going to change her name. I do not want to honor the woman who deserted me. What do you think about Cassie? It was my mother's name."

"I like it a lot. Cassie Ellen?"

"Yes, that way she will be named for both her grandmothers."

"We need to get her baptized."

"In what church?"

"Let's talk about that later."

"Cassie calls you Mama."

"And I answer. I am her mother. We will straighten out the details between you and me later."

"I love you."

"I know. Right now, I don't know, but spending the rest of my life with you doesn't fill me with horror."

"I think it did my second wife."

"Your second wife was an idiot."

Will laughed and Careen joined him.

Quietly Will said, "I sometimes wonder if she is my child."

"Why would you question that?"

"I know Frank and Suellen were … you know what."

Careen looked at the ground then at the proud, kind, simple, wonderful man in front of her. She said, "We are going to just assume Cassie is your daughter. Either way it doesn't matter. She is our child, and she always will be."

"I like that. She is my daughter. I could no more give her up than I could give up Tara."

"You must love Tara an awful lot to marry Suellen."

"I thought I knew what I was getting myself into, but I truly had no idea what it would be like being married to her. It wasn't easy."

"Between you and me it wasn't easy living with either Scarlett or Suellen."

Will laughed. When he sobered, he said, "Even so, we can rely on Scarlett during difficult times."

"True. She will do what she has to do to obtain her goal."

"Like marrying Frank Kennedy."

"Like marrying Frank Kennedy. The thought makes me shudder."

"Me too."

Careen and Will laughed. Finally Careen said, "Suellen would have happily married Frank, but she would not have saved Tara."

"No, she wouldn't."

"I know I am not going back to the convent. I know I want to spend the rest of my life here at Tara. As long as one of my aunts is living, I don't have to make a decision."

"No, you don't."

Careen linked her arm in Will's and said, "Let's go look at the piglets the sow just gave birth to."

"Yes, let's."

On Rhett's way back to his hotel he sent Scarlett a telegram stating: All problems solved STOP Frank dead STOP Leaving Houston tomorrow morning STOP.

After Scarlett had received Rhett's telegram, she sent him one back that stated: Good STOP Miss you STOP.

Two days later, Rhett was strutting through the door at The Emporium. It was Friday and it was after dinner. He said, "Do you want to hear about my trip on the porch or do you want to go see Mr. Powe to take care of some legal issues you have?"

"Mr. Powe. Let's go. Hopefully, he can work us in."

After Scarlett had walked out of the shop, she saw a beautiful new four-seater buggy with an amazing horse. Rhett came up behind her and said, "It is my wedding present to you."

Scarlett had turned around and looked Rhett in the eyes. With laughter in her voice, she had said, "Does that mean if I accept the gift, I have to marry you?"

"Yes, but you can set the date."

Rhett and Scarlett smiled at each other like a couple in love.

After the couple had gotten into the buggy Scarlett said, "What am I going to do with my old horse and buggy?"

"Take the horse out and shoot him. Put the pitiful thing out of his misery."

"I don't think so. I will think of something."

"And make money off the deal, no doubt."

Scarlett flashed Rhett a smile. He smiled back. They were happy. Their future was bright and happy.