Chapter 3: The Baker's Wife

With nervous hands, I slip into the pristine white wedding dress that my mother married my father in. Prim wore it on her wedding day, and I find myself wishing Mother could have seen me wear it on mine.

With Prim and Rory escorting me, I proceed to the Justice Building to sign the marriage license with Rye Mellark, the Baker's son. I want to keep this part very discreet, as wearing a wedding dress out in public will get the neighbors talking enough. The whole district is in a dither already that a Merchant is marrying a Seam woman.

Rye looks handsome in his tuxedo, and he is smirking much too smugly for my liking. I just want to have my lips eat that smirk right off of his face, but that is not how signing the papers is done. The Toasting - and the real ceremony - will come later.

That evening, I change into the faded blue dress from Mother's Merchant days, the one I wore to all my Reapings. Pin up my hair in the signature braid running down my back. As I stare at this young woman in the mirror, I swear I can almost see my mother, checking me over in quiet approval.

Slipping downstairs into my sister's living room, I kneel beside the fireplace with Rye and toast the bread. Standing, we share it as my family, the Baker and a handful of friends look on.

I am not completely ready when Rye pulls me flush against him. I gaze up at him, a little fearful as I weigh what I am about to embark on. Rye kisses me deeply, passionately, which surprises me for one usually so cavalier. My eyes grow wide when I remember he is kissing me in full view of a crowded house. Sweeping me into a dip, I have to weave my fingers into his hair to stay upright but also to bravely kiss him back.

The whole house erupts into cheers the moment Rye kisses me and someone captures the interaction with a flash camera; the popping of the bulb briefly blinds me. Rye pulls me up out of the dip and we tenderly break apart.

And just like that, it's over. I'm a married woman. I am Mrs. Rye Mellark. The Baker's wife.

"Mrs. Mellark? Mrs. Mellark?"

I jolt out of my daydream (one in which my husband bent over the stove was the star attraction) and refocus my attention on the customer.

"What would you recommend in terms of pastries?"

Rye laughs and saunters over, slipping an arm around my waist before I can answer. "You'll have to forgive my wife. She's partial to our cheese buns." The double entendré is not lost on me, and I swat his chest, blushing furiously. But pretending there was no innuendo, for the sake of the customer, I do recommend the cheese buns and make the sale, sending her on her way.

Glancing at the clock, I look to Rye. He smirks knowingly. "Two minutes fast." He never has gotten around to fixing that clock.

I am just about to turn back to work when he laughs. "Uh, never mind those two minutes. Go on, get out of here."

I kiss him gratefully and hang up my apron, eager to go hunting. "I'll be home by sundown. I love you!"

"I love you too!" I hear him reply just before the door to the loading dock closes.