Dear Readers!

Thank you so much for your reviews, thoughts and attention to my story! Thank you, it is very inspiring to write.

No long preface today.

Enjoy reading!:)

I own nothing in regard to GWTW.

Chapter 20

The morning sun broke through the dense foliage and Rhett could see the rays on her dark hair and here and there on the fabric of her light blue dress. They sat in the buggy, trying to catch their breath after hot kisses, and Scarlett just rested her head on his chest, leaning back against him. His hands were on her waist, and her covered his tentatively.

"I wish I could sit like this all the time," she said softly, looking off into the distance.

"We'd get bored quickly, Darling," Rhett replied with a smile and continued, "my back would get sore, then we'd get hot from the sun, then you'd get hungry..."

She pursed her lips slightly, cursing herself for saying those words out loud like some romantic fool and abruptly slipped out of his embrace before Rhett could react, starting to fix her hair without turning around.

"Scarlett?" he called to her in surprise, but all he could see was her back and the hands that were fixing her curls.

"Yes, I forgot, Captain Butler, that you're not young enough and have to think about your back," she replied without turning around.

She was offended that he had made a joke of her phrase, however unintentionally, and generally angry with herself for behaving like a silly little bird with almost no brains. "I'm like Melly, a bit more and I'll begin to read Shakespeare," she thought, without turning to adjust her dress. She knew he was looking at her, but she was ashamed.

She adjusted her dress and sat up straight, staring silently in front of her, waiting for them to ride.

Rhett watched her with a smile, realizing it wasn't easy for her to talk about her feelings, and he made a joke, not on purpose, but not in time.

He took his time taking the reins, but watched her and finally said, "So...?

"So what?" she asked in reply.

"Waiting for you to turn around and hug me again," he replied simply.

"We're going to be late," she replied without turning to him.

Rhett grinned and replied, "I'm the master and I can come as early as I want or not at all..."

"I can't."

"You're the master's fiancee."

"Rhett, stop it."

Then he moved closer and put his arm around her shoulders, whispering softly, "That's enough, I don't know where you've taken my fiancee, but bring her back here to me."

The sentence seemed to make her even angrier and she turned her head sharply, the familiar light that had driven him crazy flashing in her eyes, and she said quickly, "Stop laughing at me, Rhett Butler, and I'm not the kind of girl who's going to tell silly things and sigh all the time!"

He laughed loudly and, despite her protests, quickly leaned over and kissed her hard on the lips. Not immediately, but Scarlett responded to his kiss, and as his palms slid to her breasts, burning even through the thin fabric of her dress and underwear, she broke the kiss abruptly and said in a whisper, "Stop, Rhett, stop..."

"As soon as you stop resenting me," he replied hoarsely.

She nodded and he simply wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest.

"We should go, Rhett," she murmured uncertainly, "even though I'm the 'master's fiancee', there's a lot of work that's piled up over the last few days," she added.

Rhett grinned as he heard her mock him, then suddenly remembered something and said, "Wait, baby, there's more. You asked me how my trip went," he said, reaching into the inside pocket of his white jacket.

She looked at him in surprise and said, "Yes, I did, and you turned it into a joke, as usual!"

"You weren't serious either, Darling," he replied with a grin and suddenly, taking a small black velvet box from an inside pocket, he said, "I told my mother about us, Scarlett."

Her cheeks flushed, she didn't know why, but she wanted his mother to approve of her, for she no longer had parents of her own.

"And what did she say, Rhett?" asked Scarlett cautiously.

"She's very happy for me, for us, Darling. She's been grateful to you for a long time, knowing that you helped your aunts, and they helped my family. And now she's happy to know that her son is madly in love," Rhett spoke as he saw her listening to him nervously, blushing and not making eye contact.

"Scarlett, she gave me this engagement ring, it's from my grandmother. If you don't like it or it doesn't fit, I'll buy you any ring you want, baby, but I thought it was the right thing to do," he explained, handing her the box.

Scarlett took the box carefully, opened it and smiled, "Why an emerald, Rhett?"

"I think it was my grandmother's favourite stone, that's what my mother said. Do you like it?" he asked nervously. He was a rich man, obscenely rich, and he could buy her any ring she wanted, but he wanted so badly to put something more into the gesture than just a cold gem.

Scarlett barely touched the gold ring with the beautiful emerald and nodded, "Yes, Rhett, it's very pretty and," she looked up at him and smiled mischievously, "it fits to my eyes."

He smiled and then took her hand, carefully removing the ring from the box and gently placing it on her finger. Scarlett took her eyes off his hand for a moment as he put the ring on and looked up at his face. He was focused and even cautious, as if this was an important moment in his life, something he'd been waiting for a long time.

Turning her gaze back to the ring, she saw Rhett put it on and lean down to kiss her hand.

He looked up and Scarlett shyly reached up, kissed the corner of his lips lightly and whispered, "Thank you..."

They were interrupted by the sound of a carriage in the distance, apparently a customer was on his way to the sawmill, and Rhett took the reins and started off.

Scarlett looked at the ring once more, and then, sighing like a child, said indignantly, "And I'm going to have to hide that ring until we tell everyone, Rhett!"

"Let's tell them tonight," he replied with a smile, looking down the lane.

"No, Rhett, that won't do... We'll shock Aunt Pitty, then I'll have to shock Melly separately..."

"And the Honourable Mr Wilkes, eh, Darling?" asked Rhett, grinning.

"Stop it!" she replied irritably, then suddenly exclaimed cheerfully, "Listen, Rhett, I've got an idea! It's Aunt Pitty's birthday at the end of the week, and the Wilkes are coming up on Friday night, and they're leaving on Sunday morning, and we'll..."

"Ashley Wilkes is going to be in the same house with you two nights in a row?" suddenly Rhett interrupted her, frowning.

"Yes, where else are they going to stay? This is Mellie's house too, Rhett, or have you forgotten?"

"No, I haven't forgotten."

She looked at his profile, at the frown on his face, then timidly touched the hands that held the reins and said softly, "Rhett, Ashley had nothing to do with... Besides, we'll tell everybody at dinner that I... that we... You know..."

His expression changed and she saw the mischievous and amused look on his face and quickly added, "No jokes, you, varmint! Rhett, don't turn Aunt Pitty's birthday party into a theatre, please! She'll faint as it is, no doubt about it!"

He just laughed and said, "I'll be a goody-goody. The Honourable Mr Wilkes and his green with envy face is all I want to see!"

Scarlett rolled her eyes and slapped him lightly on the shoulder as he stopped the buggy near the sawmill.

Rhett noticed that she was reaching for the ring to take it off, but he stopped her with a gentle wave of his hand and said, "It's just us and Tom here, Darling. Leave it on your finger at least while you working."

She smiled at him like a child who had been allowed to play a little longer.

Work had indeed piled up, and Scarlett had done almost nothing during Rhett and Tom's absence, although the foreman had dropped off books at her house.

Nevertheless, Tom greeted them with a smile, said hello, and immediately took Rhett with him to his meetings, customers arriving one by one, mostly large clients who wanted to be sure of the quality of the wood.

Rhett was getting bored with this work, even though Tom was really enjoying it, so he decided that after the wedding he would sell the sawmill to him, because maybe they would go travelling or live somewhere else. He didn't want to be tied down by anything, because he'd only bought the sawmill to get closer to his stubborn future wife.

At the thought of Scarlett, Rhett smiled and decided to talk to Tom the other day.

Scarlett, on the other hand, was alone in the office when they left. First she stared at the ring on her finger for a while. It was so unusual for her because she hadn't worn a ring in a long time, not since the Bazaar in Atlanta when she had donated the gold one Charles had given her.

This ring was the right size and the colour of the stone pleased her. And most importantly, it was from the man she wanted to marry. Who loved her.

Somehow distracted, Scarlett finally sat down to the papers that lay on the edge of her desk, and soon the room was quiet, only the squeak of pencil on paper was heard.

She was so absorbed in the numbers that she didn't immediately hear the door creak and a slight cough. Scarlett looked up and frowned slightly, but she pulled herself together, smiled and said in a businesslike tone, "Mr Miller, good afternoon. Captain Butler and Mr Allen are somewhere about, probably with the workmen, you can find them there..."

Joe Miller grinned back at her and walked straight to her desk, grabbing the nearest chair and pulling it over to sit opposite her.

"Mrs Hamilton, perhaps I'd wait for them to arrive here with you! Your company is most pleasant. You look lovely today, Miss Scarlett," he chattered, and Scarlett looked at him nervously, wondering how to get rid of his intrusive attention. This red-haired man, with sweat dripping down his forehead, dressed in a beige linen suit that didn't look neat, made her very nervous. To make matters worse, as he spoke the last sentence, he leaned so far in her direction, over the desk, that she could smell a foul odour on his breath.

"Mr Miller," she began calmly, looking up at him and picking up her pencil again, "I'm very busy, we've been away for the last week and there's a lot of work to do. So I'm not the best company right now, I'm sorry."

And Scarlett looked down at the papers, indicating that the conversation was over, but realizing that she wouldn't be able to concentrate under the man's unpleasant gaze.

However not only did Joe Miller not leave as Scarlett had faintly hoped, but in a second she felt his hot, wet palm on her hand.

"Miss Scarlett, you're always the best company for me, Honey..."

Scarlett quickly pulled her hand out from under his palm, stood up from her chair and said sternly, gathering the sheets into a pile, "Mr Miller, you..."

But he cut her off, also standing abruptly and coming closer, grabbing her elbow, "You can just call me Joe, Miss Scarlett. And I'd like to get closer to you too, I've been looking at you for a long time and you..." then his hand let go of her elbow and slid down to her waist.

Scarlett blushed with indignation at his speech, and when his hand touched her waist, she shuddered in disgust and slapped him across the face.

Taking a step back, she saw his confused face, angry look and quickly said, raising her voice, "What do you think you're doing?"

Her voice was firm but her hand trembled and she hid it in the folds of her skirt, clenching the other into a fist.

"Miss Scarlett, you misunderstand me, I'm a gentleman, I've just been waiting for a chance to invite you in privatе," he began to speak quickly, stroking his cheek where the red stain from her palm remained.

Scarlett had always disliked this man, the way he looked at her and his lack of manners, and now she decided to stand up for herself as there was no one else around.

"Mr Miller! I have never given you the slightest hint that I am interested in your attention, and as a lady I wouldn't give it to you! Now, your gestures and words are not only insulting to me, but to another person as well," she said, thinking that this would make things clearer to that awful man.

"Who do you mean?" he asked incomprehensibly.

"I'm talking about my fiancé, Captain Butler," she said clearly, seeing his surprised look, and continued, "and if he finds out about your behaviour, I doubt your future work together."

Joe stood there with his mouth agape in surprise, then said, "Miss... I mean Mrs Hamilton, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you and Captain Butler... He just didn't make an impression... Although..."

He thought about it, remembering how Rhett had never left them alone together, and how he had kept such a lady to himself, drove her back and forth in a buggy... Then his eyes slid to her hand and he noticed the gold ring on her finger and, swallowing, he continued, "I apologize again, Mrs Hamilton. My congratulations to you... And... I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention this embarrassing incident to your fiancé."

Scarlett looked at him and had only one thought in her head, "Pathetic coward!" but she nodded and a moment later Joe Miller left the office.

Scarlett stood by the desk, flipping through the sheets of paper one by one. Now that the man was gone, she finally came to her senses. She suddenly thought that if he had been more insolent, if he had been more forceful, if he had pushed her against the wall, if he had tried to kiss her... The thought made her feel sick and her hands trembled. She was a lady, even if she didn't always act like that, but she had been brought up to know how men should treat her... The one exception had always been Rhett, but their acquaintance had been unusual from the beginning and she'd never been afraid to be with him. She knew that, despite his taunts and the fact that he called himself a "scoundrel", he was never a scoundrel.

Scarlett stopped flicking through the sheets, moved away from the table to the open window and breathed in the forest air, trying to calm herself.

Finally, after standing there for about fifteen minutes, she calmed down and at this time Rhett and Tom came into the office laughing and discussing something, but as soon as Rhett looked at her, he stopped laughing abruptly.

She was pale, and he read consternation and confusion in her eyes. Rhett knew that Scarlett was not easily startled or surprised, so he looked at her questioningly and said, "What's happened, Scarlett?"

Tom looked at her too, but she gave a strained smile and just said, "Nothing, I was just standing there, a bit distracted by the numbers, a lot of work piling up... That's all."

Tom nodded and sat down at his desk, and Rhett walked over to her, touched her icy hand and whispered softly, "You never could lie, Scarlett," and then left for his office, knowing he'd talk to her later when he had a chance.

Half an hour later, when Tom had gone out somewhere, Rhett went quickly into the room, walked over to her, stroked her shoulder gently and then, seeing that she was not looking up, reached out and touched her chin, making her look at him.

"Baby, what's wrong?"

Scarlett wondered how she was going to tell him the truth and do it in a way that wouldn't make Rhett run after Joe.

Sighing, she decided to tell it like it was, he would find out the truth anyway, he always did.

"Rhett," she began, rising from her chair, "while you and Tom were out, a customer came in here..."

"Who?"

"Joe Miller."

She saw Rhett's face darken, then took a step towards her and asked seriously, "Did he do anything inappropriate? Did that bastard offended you, Scarlett?"

"He... He tried," she caught his angry look and immediately added, "I put him in his place, Rhett."

"How?"

"Slapped him in the face."

Rhett looked at her questioningly but proudly, then hugged her tightly, pulled against him and whispered, "I'm sorry, baby, I never should have started working with that bastard in the first place. I always hated the way he looked at you."

She only pressed tighter against him, feeling one of his palms on her waist as he stroked her hair with the other.

Scarlett heard his soft whisper again, "I love you," felt him barely touch his lips to her hair and clutched her eyes shut, feeling his safety.

Joe Miller was shortening his evening at Belle's bar. After tonight's fiasco at the sawmill with the unreachable Mrs Hamilton, he was furious. It pissed him off that he'd been turned down, but it pissed him off even more that he might lose good money if that silly girl told Rhett about his behaviour.

As he drank his third glass of whiskey, he noticed Belle enter the room, looking around, in her red dress with its deep neckline.

She walked to the bar and Joe licked his parched lips as he gazed at her seductive figure. Ordering a whiskey, she sat down at the table and Joe immediately approached her, bowing slightly in greeting.

"Ah, it's you, Mr Miller," she said with a nod, taking a sip before adding, "How are you this evening? Have you decided on one of the girls yet?"

Joe grinned and said, leaning towards her, "Yes, Miss Watling, I have. How much do you charge per night? I'll be very generous..."

Belle wrinkled her nose slightly, she had only slept with Rhett for a long time now, "Although we hadn't slept with him after he got out of jail," she thought resentfully and replied with a polite smile, "I'm not working tonight, Mr Miller, but..."

"Hell no!" he exclaimed suddenly and added angrily, "or do all the women in this town belong to Butler now?"

Belle didn't like his tone, but disliked the phrase even more and asked, "What do you mean, Mr Miller?"

He thought she didn't know that her richest client and partner was getting married, so he took a jab at her, "I had the honour of speaking with Mrs Hamilton today, who was happy to share with me the news of her impending marriage to Captain Butler," he paused, but even his drunken eyes could see that Belle was tense and clutching her glass tightly, so he continued, "I've even seen the ring, Miss Watling. So your favourite customer will soon forget the way here. Although...Who knows, these well-bred ladies are so boring," he finished with a drunken laugh and whispered again, "And what about the night, Darling?"

"I told you, I'm not working," Belle replied sharply, downing her whiskey in one gulp and quickly leaving the room.