Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

Chapter Seven

Saturday when Rhett picked Scarlett up, he again joined Wade, Ella, and PittyPat in the parlor. PittyPat said, "Good evening, Mr. Butler or is it, Captain Butler? Since you were a ship's captain.

"Either title is fine."

Wade said, "Good evening, Captain Butler."

"If you wish you may call me Uncle Rhett."

"Alright, Uncle Rhett."

Scarlett walked into the room, she said, "No, Wade, you must call him Mr. Butler in order to show him respect."

Rhett said, "I don't mind."

"I do. Come here, Ella." Scarlett could see the little girl was about to start crying. She said, "Let me tuck you in bed. Then you will not have missed any time with me. I will be here in the morning when you wake up."

"I don't want you to go."

"I'm going out and you are going to bed."

Ella laid her head on her mother's chest and let the tears fall. Scarlett didn't say any more. She walked out of the room with Ella. In five minutes, she had returned. She said, "Wade, Mercy will come get you in an hour to put you to bed."

"I know. Go with her like a good boy."

Scarlett smiled and said, "Exactly. Give me a hug."

When Scarlett turned to Rhett, he handed her a couple of newspapers. He said, "I had two of them. So, I brought them both."

"Thank you, Rhett." Scarlett laid the papers on the tea table and turned back to him. She said, "I will read them over the next week. Shall we go?"

"Yes."

As Rhett was helping Scarlett up into the cab, he was stunned and amazed. He was wondering, 'Who was this woman? She looked like Scarlett, but she was a much softer version. How had the happened?' He pinched himself. This was like a dream come true for him. Then Rhett remembered. It didn't matter how perfect Scarlett was. He was not a free man, and Miranda was in good health. Maybe if he set up residency in Georgia, he could get a divorce. He would go talk to a lawyer the next day.

Over supper Scarlett told Rhett about her life history. She mentioned that when Sherman had entered Georgia, she had taken her sister-in-law to Tara where she thought they would be safer. They weren't. They were in the Yankees' path.

Rhett wondered why she had left Atlanta so quickly in this timeline. He vainly wondered if she had stayed in Atlanta last time to be with him. After he had shamed her by asking her to be his mistress, it was too late to get Miss Melly to Tara.

When Rhett had dropped Scarlett off, he had walked her to the door. He had then kissed her cheek. She had smiled up at him.

As Rhett was riding back to the National Hotel, he thought about this Scarlett. She was still beautiful. She still oozed sexuality. Yet, there was something hard about her. He smiled when he thought, 'Like she has been to hell and back.' He once again wondered how she had lost her adoration for Mr. Wilkes. He finally decided to dismiss it from his thoughts. He would never know. He instead thought about what she had told him about her life.

Scarlett had said, "I had the perfect life until the war came and destroyed everything. I was the belle of five counties."

Rhett had replied, "I can easily believe that."

Scarlett had smiled. She continued her story. She had said, "I married my favorite suitor when the war started. Unfortunately, he was killed in the first battle of the war. Although luckily, he gave me Wade before he went to Columbia. He wanted to serve with Wade Hampton. That is who my son is named after."

"That is what Mrs. Hamilton said."

"It is Miss Hamilton."

"She said she was your aunt."

"Aunt PittyPat was Charlie's aunt, not mine."

"Charlie?"

"My first husband. Charlie's sister, Melanie, lives behind us in a little blue house. They can't afford anything better because Ashley is such a lousy businessman. I should have let him go to New York, but Melly begged me to hire him so they wouldn't have to go up North. I would fire him, but that would cause trouble between me and Melly. Besides, nobody else would hire him. I have to go out to his mill twice a week just to push him into selling lumber."

"How did you come to own a sawmill?"

"The January after the war was over, I found out I owed another three hundred dollars in back taxes on my plantation. I came into Atlanta to try to find someone to loan me the money. I went to see Frank to see if he knew of someone who could loan me the money. He offered to loan me the money even though it meant he wouldn't be able to buy a sawmill he had been thinking about buying. I don't know, maybe I felt a lot of gratitude to him for loaning me the money that when he asked me to marry him I did. He wasn't a bad husband. I'm sorry he is dead."

Rhett had marveled that Scarlett had told that lie with such a straight face. He knew Scarlett's feelings for Frank had not changed. She had hated that old man.

Rhett said, "How did he die?"

Scarlett whispered, "He was a member of the Klan. They decided to make a raid on Shantytown to teach the residents a lesson. Several of the gentleman had been robbed while passing through the settlement."

"He was a member of that group. I heard about that. Those men were stupid to attack the residents of Shantytown."

With disgust Scarlett said, "It was for honor."

With a smile, Rhett said, "I guess you don't hold honor very highly."

"It certainly isn't worth getting killed for. Idiots. All of them."

Rhett laughed. He said, "You didn't answer my question? How did you come to own a sawmill? Did you inherit it from your husband like the store?"

"No, because of my fear of needing a lot of money quickly after the authorities raised the taxes on me suddenly, I decided to run a business that would bring in cash money. Frank knew of a man selling a sawmill. He told me if I could find the money, he would allow me to run it. Frank had a lot of people who owed him money, so I hounded them until I got enough money to buy the sawmill."

"And your other sawmill?"

"I made enough profit to buy the second sawmill."

"You should probably sell your sawmills. The building boom is coming to an end, and it will be even harder to make ends meet. Especially if you have a lousy salesman that you can't fire."

"How do you know it is coming to an end?"

"The best time to make money is when a civilization is destroying itself like we did with the war. The next best time is the first five years of them rebuilding themselves."

"I will certainly think about it. It is a lot of work. The store is doing well enough now to cover my living expenses."

Rhett knew he was being petty, but he wanted her to sever all ties with Mr. Wilkes.

Rhett shook off thoughts of Scarlett as he entered The Blue Moon. He had frequented the saloon since his move to Atlanta. It was where all Yankee soldiers spent their time. He had won a lot of Yankee gold off the soldiers especially Captain Tom Jaffery. The man just shouldn't sit down at the poker table.

Rhett took Scarlett to all the finest restaurants in Atlanta. He had brought her flowers, chocolates, and even stationery. He was acting like a real suitor. He took her to a ball one of the Republicans was hosting. He took her so they could dance.

When Rhett and Scarlett got to the event, he said, "I brought you to this ball so we could dance. I know how much you like to dance."

"How can you know I like to dance because I know I hadn't told you so."

"Maybe I just hoping you like to dance because I love to dance."

"You do that a lot. You know things about me that you can't know."

Rhett ignored Scarlett's statement and said, "You don't want to tell anyone about attending this ball. It is being hosted by Huey Long."

"So?"

"He is a famous Republican."

"Oh. People are so silly. They act like we shouldn't associate with Yankees and Republicans, but they are the ones with the money."

"Do you know how to waltz?"

"Of course."

"Then let's go out on the dance floor."

The couple had a wonderful time and nothing more was said about Rhett knowing things about Scarlett he couldn't know. Although, as Scarlett was going to sleep that night, she thought about it again. She promised herself she would think about it tomorrow. She was too sleepy to think about it right then.

After a month Scarlett finally invited Rhett to have Sunday dinner with the family. She also invited the Wilkeses. After everyone was seated, Rhett looked around the room. He looked at where everyone was sitting. PittyPat was seated at the head of the table while Scarlett was seated at the other end. Wade was sitting next to his mother on her right and Ella was seated on her left. Beau was seated next to Wade. Melly was seated next to Beau. India was seated next to Melly. Scarlett had told Rhett to sit next to Ella, which left the seat on PittyPat's left for Ashley.

Scarlett introduced Rhett to the Wilkeses. At first, the conversation was on general topics. Melly finally said, "How did you meet?"

Scarlett said, "At the train station."

"I was returning from Charleston, and what do I see but an incredibly beautiful woman standing on the depot."

Scarlett blushed and said, "It was when I was putting Mammy on the train to Jonesboro. Remember, Melly, I told you she wanted to return to Tara because Suellen desperately needed her help."

"Yes, I remember."

Rhett said, "So, I did something very improper and walked over to Scarlett and introduced myself. Luckily for me, she wasn't offended by my actions."

"We have been seeing each other ever since."

Rhett looked at Melly's face and knew she thought it was extremely romantic. He looked at Ashley's face and Rhett knew the other man was sitting in judgment of him and Scarlett because they hadn't behaved properly. When Rhett looked at India's face, he didn't know what her feelings were because although she had a scowl on her face at that moment, there had been one on her face the entire meal.

Scarlett smiled and said, "What else could we do? There was no one to introduce us and we wanted to meet."

"Exactly, my dear. What else could we do?"

Rhett smiled at Scarlett, and she smiled back.

The rest of the meal was good. Rhett and Ashley talked about the current political climate, when they thought the Confederate veterans would get the vote back, and how much longer they thought the Southern States would be under military rule. All in all, it was a good meal.

As everyone was getting up from the table, Scarlett said, "Let me walk you out, Rhett."

Rhett saw the Wilkeses walking in the opposite direction from the front door. He said, "Where are they going?"

"They are going out the back door. Our backyards meet. There is just a hedge in between us."

"Who is India?"

"Ashley's sister."

"Why is she so unhappy?"

"She is an old maid. Her suitor died in the war. She acts like she is the only person to lose a loved one in the war."

"She will remain an old maid. That scowl she wore all through dinner is not very attractive."

Scarlett laughed.

When the couple got to the front door, Rhett said, "I will see you tomorrow night around seven."

"Alright."

Rhett bent down and kissed Scarlett. She enjoyed the kiss very much. He did too.