Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

Chapter Twenty

The next day, Paul sent Scarlett a note to the dress shop asking if he could call on her that night at her home. Scarlett had sent him a note back asking him to call on her that afternoon at the dress shop. Paul sent a note saying he would stop by around two.

Scarlett had been waiting by the door to the shop for Paul to arrive. She even had her coat already on. It was two thirty when Paul arrived. It was one of the things she had not liked about him. He was always late. He walked into the shop and Scarlett saw he had a present in his hand. She quickly said, "Let's go for a walk."

In a confused voice, Paul said, "Alright."

As Paul and Scarlett were walking along, he attempted to hand her the present. She said, "I'm getting married."

"What?!"

"Yes, December the third at the courthouse."

"Congratulations, I guess. Who are you marrying?"

"Rhett Butler."

"That bottom feeder."

"You know Rhett? You didn't act like it at that supper we were all at."

"You didn't act like you knew him either."

"He had been calling on me then he stopped so, of course, I wasn't going to acknowledge that I knew him. Why did you call him a bottom feeder?"

"Because he is rude, mocking, and thinks he is the smartest man on the planet."

"So, you do know Rhett."

Paul shoved the present at Scarlett and said, "Here take this. I have no one else to give it to. Goodbye, Scarlett. Have a great life."

Scarlett opened her mouth to tell Paul that she couldn't accept his present, but she knew he would not come back.

As Scarlett walked back to the shop, she wondered why Paul had come back early. She was afraid it was because he had missed her.

Scarlett would have been hurt to know that Paul was more annoyed to have lost to Rhett Butler than he was no longer getting to call on Scarlett. He had enjoyed her company, of course, but he was no fonder of her than any of the other women he was calling on. She would also be hurt to know that Paul had been back for over a week and had just then gotten around to calling on her. He had come back because a very lucrative deal had fallen in his lap. He decided that he would take Jayne to supper tonight. Jayne was not a whore per se, but she could be bought with a meal and a good time.

The gift was a box of chocolates and Scarlett shared it with everyone in the shop. She was a little sad the rest of the afternoon. She was sorry to have hurt Paul, but she loved Rhett. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

That evening Rhett came over for supper. The family was having roasted pork, mashed turnips, and green beans. As the group was eating, Rhett said, "My offer for the yellow house was accepted. I'm going to my lawyer's office tomorrow morning to give the current owner my check and sign the papers. We will have to give them two weeks to move out."

"Alright, Darling."

Melly said, "You are going to be moving out in two weeks."

Rhett said, "No, we won't move out until our furniture is delivered. I think Scarlett wants to change some of the décor of the house also. It will probably be at least a month before we move out.

"Let's go tomorrow afternoon so, we can go ahead and get it on order."

"I will come get you tomorrow before dinner. We can stop at Katz's again."

"Good idea."

Rhett picked Scarlett up the next day. As they sat in the cab, Scarlett said, "In less than two weeks we will be married."

"Be sure and make arrangements that Melly takes care of Wade on our wedding night. I want you all to myself."

"And I want to give you all of my attention."

Rhett and Scarlett did eat at the delicatessen again. This time she had a pastrami sandwich, and he had a Reuben. Once again, she scooped all the cauliflower off his plate. He smiled at her. She smiled back. She said, "I want you to be in a good mood today."

"What you mean is a tolerant mood."

"Maybe."

After Rhett and Scarlett had visited the third furniture store, she was not in a good mood. Nothing they had seen was acceptable. It was all bland and boring furniture. Even Rhett thought the furniture was boring. On their way to the fourth store, Rhett said, "Maybe you can make it pop out with the other décor. You know drapes, wallpaper, and that new fashion trend - mirrors."

"Maybe. One of the ladies that shops in the store owns a drapery and wallpaper store. I will go see her tomorrow."

"I can make it tomorrow afternoon. I will go with you."

"Rhett, you said you would let me decorate the inside."

"No, I said I would let you have more freedom not a free hand. This is going to be my home also."

"Are you always going to be involved with everything?"

"No, just the things that are important to me."

Scarlett pouted until she and Rhett reached the next furniture store. Her pouting didn't do her any better with Rhett than it had with Charlie.

At the fourth store Scarlett found several pieces that she really liked. Surprisingly, Rhett liked them too. She had blushed when he had asked about an oversize bed, but she had not objected. She had thought, 'It will be nice to not have to sleep so close.'

After the couple had left the store, they had most of their furniture ordered. As they sat in the cab, Scarlett said, "Did you notice in the house that area that was just a big closet?"

"Not really."

"There is enough room in that area to make it your office."

"No, I want a lot of room in my office. You could make it your music room."

"No. I guess we can turn it into the dining room and turn the dining room into your office."

"You really don't want to share your music room, do you?"

Scarlett smiled and said, "No, I don't want to."

Rhett smiled and said, "But what about when we have guests."

"Once Melly gets used to the idea of not having daily contact with Wade and I guess me, we will move to a bigger house."

"You are so insightful."

"I am now."

Rhett and Scarlett kissed for a while. At one point, he put his hand on one of her breasts, and she stopped him by putting her hand over his hand. He drew back and said, "Let's take a breather."

"Alright."

"Scarlett, I want you to understand that once you marry me you will never be able to live in the South again."

"I can never live in the South again because of Charlie's actions. In order to be accepted I would have to disavow any connection to Charlie. I can't do that for Wade's sake. Although I want him to call you Daddy, I want him to always know how strong and brave his father was."

"Was he really that strong?"

"Yes, he was. He had courage beyond measure to ask the belle of five counties to be his wife who had given him little to no encouragement. He had courage beyond measure to give up everything for his principals. I would never have loved Charlie the way I love you but if he had lived, we would have had a good life."

"Quite a legacy to pass on to his son."

"Yes, it is."

"Did you really love him?"

"No."

"Why did you marry him?"

"He was rich, handsome, and I thought I could boss him around. None of that turned out to be true."

"You didn't think he was handsome?"

"No, he had too much of an effeminate air about him, but I think that was because he had been raised by his maiden aunt. I met her before we left Atlanta to move up here. She is a fussy, nervous woman who is always worrying about doing the wrong thing."

"Charlie's personality was not weak or effeminate at all. When I had a temper tantrum because we were moving to New York, he didn't back down in the least little bit."

"Scarlett, I will give you most everything you want but when I say no about something I will not back down either. You can pout, scream, yell, call me ugly names but it won't make any difference."

"As long as you don't try to control every aspect of my life."

"I will only stop you from doing something if I think it will hurt you."

"Thank you, Rhett."

After a few minutes, Rhett asked, "Do you want to go back to my hotel and play with me?"

"Not until we are married."

"I had to ask."

Scarlett smiled up at Rhett and he felt like a million dollars. She had given him her special smile. The smile that always made him feel like he was the most wonderful man in the world.

The next day, Rhett came to the dress shop around eleven to pick Scarlett up for them to go to the drapery shop. She said to Coco, "I am sorry I have been gone so much this week, but Rhett and I have so much to do before we can move into our house."

"Darling, if all you did was the books and ordered stock, I would still feel blessed."

"Thank you."

At the drapery shop Scarlett and Rhett found out about a new invention – screens. The owner, Martha Stewart, showed them the latest in-home décor. She showed them shades that outdoor scenes could be painted on. She showed them how mirrors could enlarge the room. She showed them the drapery fabric. She showed them wallpaper samples. She also advised them to not make any decisions until they actually got into the house.

As Rhett and Scarlett got into the cab for her to return to the dress shop, he said, "We are definitely getting screens on all of our windows. I also like the idea of shades with pictures painted on them."

"Darling, I have been thinking."

"Yes."

"Let's get the screens that way we can keep the bugs out but for the most part let's not make that many changes to the yellow house. We both agree we won't be there but for a year at most then we will buy something bigger. We can save our arguing for our forever home."

"I don't know if we will ever have a forever home because I think we will always be wanting something better, but I agree with your thought processes."

"We will make the yellow house livable but that is all we are going to do."

"I agree. There is no point in sinking a lot of money into the house that we will never be able to get back when we do sell it."

"Look at us reaching a common goal."

"It also means we can move out of the Wilkeses' house sooner."

"Yes, it does."

Rhett and Scarlett spent the rest of their time in the cab kissing. As she got out of the cab at the dress shop, she said, "You are such a good kisser."

"Wait until you find out what else I am good at."

That had made Scarlett blush and smile at the same time. She said, "I can't wait to find out."

"You can find out this afternoon."

Scarlett laughed. She said, "No, Baby."

Rhett sighed and helped her down from the cab. He told the cabdriver, "I will be right back."

As Rhett got back in the cab, he once again hoped he could show Scarlett all the pleasure she could have in her marital bed. He certainly didn't want to get his needs met elsewhere. He wanted her to meet his needs. He wanted them to have a happy marriage and him being sexually unfaithful to her would put a real damper on their happiness. He had a passing thought on whether he could be abstinent. He didn't think he could, but he sure would try. Maybe he could talk her into taking care of his needs for him. He liked that idea but not as much as having relations with Scarlett.

Rhett did start coming to supper every night. He was amusing company to everyone. He asked all the right questions. He told amusing stories. He and Ashley had a long list of subjects they liked to discuss. Scarlett smiled one night when she thought, 'Rhett and Ashley have so much in common, but Rhett is thrilling and exciting and Ashley is just a boring egghead.'