EPILOGUE

"Do you think they'll serve pie?"

"Don't eat the strawberry if they do. Just to be safe." I smother my laughter at this and lean back against the trunk of the apple tree I scaled half an hour ago, the speakers below me unaware of my presence.

The funny thing about gossip and scandal is that it's a stupid, fickle thing. Two years after I returned to Twelve Willows to propose a joint Daily Fix and bakery franchise to Peeta and ask him out for real, so much has already changed, and yet so much remains the same.

While I had once been certain that the sheriff and the suspect to the murder that didn't happen being together would provide the scandal of the decade in Twelve Willows, we were upstaged when, after a year of scattered traveling around the country with the funds from the sale of her and Brigham's house, Madge packed up her bags once more and ran away to Philadelphia. To move in with her girlfriend, a raging bitch who needs her coffee as much as I do.

Together, Madge and Johanna run the original Daily Fix and I couldn't be happier for them. It took some time for Madge to work up the courage to do it. She was not only healing from the mess Brigham made, but also coming to terms with a piece of her identity that she smothered, hid, and doubted while she lived here. They still visit as frequent customers at the lakeside spa, always spending a few days catching up with friends and family while they're here.

During the next round of elections, Twelve Willows voted in Mayor Maysilee Donner, and even though he put up some resistance to the idea of running again, the town petitioned for him and eventually re-elected Peeta as their sheriff. I wasn't surprised in the least by either result.

The story of Brigham's death approached legend in the town - hence the comment about strawberry pie beneath my tree - shared almost as often over coffee and cake or chilled alcohol as the tale of two girls who dance naked for the moon and scare the living daylights out of Haymitch Abernathy every spring. But like all gossip and speculation, the story is never quite the same from one telling to the next, and never completely accurate, depending on who's telling it and which way the wind is blowing that day.

Over the past two years, I've kept busy traveling, with Peeta when he can get away from his desk, and overseeing the openings of Daily Fixes throughout the country, all of them now also serving a selection of Peeta's fresh baked goods and featuring his paintings on many of the dishes and the walls, but the one here in Twelve Willows holds a special place in my heart as it is the only full-up bakery and coffee shop. Peeta and I spent the months finishing it up and prepping it for opening, growing back together, discovering that cakes and coffee really do make a perfect pairing. Which brings me to today.

"Never figured Katniss Everdeen for a fancy wedding with swans on the lawn."

"Those were geese, and I'm pretty sure they wandered over here because Haymitch's fence got busted last night. He says there were two people in his pasture, engaged in intimate acts, but he was probably drunk again and mistook cows for people."

A small laugh escapes me at this one because Peeta and I really did break the fence between my mother's land and Haymitch's last night. We had only meant to take a walk and watch the sunset over the valley, but as often happens around him, I acted out on my impulses. I blame Peeta's dimples and excessive hotness. We planned on fixing the fence, but we've been a little busy today. We'll get to it tomorrow. Maybe.

My entire family and all of my closest friends, plus most of the town of Twelve Willows, descended on my mother's house for the event. Prim came home from her residency, Madge and Johanna from Philly, and even my dad managed to make the trip. With all those people making demands on my time, the party got a little overwhelming, and now, I'm up in this tree to steal a few moments of quiet for myself before rejoining the crowd. I enjoy the sunshine for a few more minutes after the guests finally wander away from my tree, until I hear a soft whistle below me. I shift to look down and infinite calm washes over me.

"Heard there's a wedding around here missing it's bride," Peeta calls up to me. "Think I should send out a search party?"

"No need," I say with a grin. "She'd have to be an idiot to skip out if the groom's half as handsome as you."

I shift in the tree and wrap my limbs around a thick branch before hanging upside down in front of him. He laughs, cupping the back of my head in his hand and kissing me until my toes tingle and I am in danger of having him against this tree.

"What are you planning?" he asks, eyeing me skeptically as our lips part. Oh, he knows me too well. I untangle my limbs and Peeta catches me, setting me on my feet and brushing escaped hair back out of my face.

"A little public indecency," I whisper and start pushing him away from my mother's house and the party going on there.

"We have guests," he says, but he's not fighting me. He bends his head and kisses my shoulder as I tremble with sudden need.

"They can wait. Besides, they're all expecting at least one crazy thing to happen at this wedding to give them something to talk about."

"The stray geese wandering in and disrupting the vows during that one crucial moment wasn't enough?" he asks as we round a thick oak that will shelter us from view.

"Nah, that was just bizarre luck," I say through my laughter. Apparently, Haymitch's geese object to our marriage and the entire town thought that was a riot. "I'm thinking lipstick on your collar and straw in my hair," I say as he groans at my suggestion.

"Where are we gonna find straw? And you're not wearing lipstick," he whispers to my neck and starts kissing me there while he lifts the layers of creamy chiffon up my legs. His lips and fingertips grazing my skin send shivers of delight through me.

"Oh well, I'll just have to settle for sex hair and skewed clothing," I say and grip his curls, tugging on them when his fingers move my panties aside so he can touch me. I hike one leg up over his hip and he bends his knee to support that leg as I lean back against the tree. I have to bite my lip so I don't moan too loudly and draw attention to us before I'm done, but his fingers move swift and sure, bringing me right to the edge fast enough to make me dizzy and breathless.

"Peeta, I need you," I breathe my plea as he holds me steady with one hand and reaches for his zipper with the other. I wrap my other leg around him and kiss along his jaw, urging him to hurry. We both sigh as he slides inside me, and I hold onto his shoulders for dear life as he moves between my legs. We hear voices calling out from the house, clearly looking for someone. Probably us.

I ignore the voices and the bite of the tree bark as it digs into my back. Peeta drops his hand between us, his thumb drawing quick circles over my clit as I bite his shoulder to keep from making any noise. Lifting his head, Peeta kisses me once on the temple and then murmurs to me about how badly he needs to feel me come on him again and again. Now, later tonight, tomorrow and every day for the rest of our lives. He orders me to look at him, and when I do, his eyes hold me as pinned to the tree as his body and his arms do. It's when he's whispering that he loves me that my body quakes with the beginnings of my release. I tug frantically on his hair to get him to kiss me and silence the sounds I make as he buries himself in me and gently rocks his hips to draw out our release. We cling to one another, sharing our moans as we come together.

For a moment, we remain there, shaking limbs and haggard breaths. I drop my head to his shoulder and he pants over my neck as we listen to the distant sounds of merriment. When I can open my eyes and lift my head again, Peeta's watching me, blue eyes dark with the trailing ends of need.

"Was that enough of a distraction from the small talk for you?" he teases and sets my feet back on solid ground.

"Just what I needed," I say as he adjusts himself before helping me clean up and straighten my dress. I don't mention the wet patch on his vest where I bit him, or the disarray of his hair just at the back of his head.

He kisses me and smiles, taking my hand in his before leading me towards the house. Just before we reach the back porch, he leans over and whispers in my ear. "I want you to ride my face in that dress when everyone's gone. Ride it until your juices run down my cheeks and my chin."

I blush and need flutters to life anew inside of me. I'm about ten seconds from announcing that the party is over and ordering everyone to return to their homes when my mother spots me and shouts.

"Katniss Maureen Everdeen! Have you been climbing trees in your wedding dress?" My eyes shoot over to Peeta's and he laughingly plucks a leaf and an apple blossom from my hair, twirling them in front of my face for me to see.

"Did you know that was there the whole time?" I hiss and he grins devilishly, bringing out those stupid dimples.

"I swear, I labor for thirty-five hours to bring you into this world, and you can't even behave like a lady for one hour at your own wedding?"

I roll my eyes and lean into Peeta as he kisses the top of my head and takes a deep breath. I smile, thinking about how I've started using the honeysuckle scented, herbal shampoo my mother makes again, not caring how much trouble I'm in with her. I have a sheriff to seduce and distract with lots of love, and a lifetime in which to do it.