Page 121 of Betting on the Brainiac

“I’m glad to hear that,” Mrs. Lipsky says, and she does look relieved.

“Actually, my dad even told us he wanted us to be proud of our family name, so he gave us each initial necklaces with an A for Armstrong and made a nice donation in our names to a good cause.” Specifically, he’d given us necklaces from Tiffany, and the donation had been huge, all to the Teak Heart nonprofit. So huge, it quadrupled our annual operating budget and made the director cry. She stillhates my dad. But she hates him slightly less now. Katie’s even thinking about joining the Armstrong Philanthropy and expanding its charitable giving to include causes beyond the arts.

“Katie should be here by now,” I tell Oliver. “She said she’d be late, but this is later than I expected.”

“Is that her?” Oliver says, nodding toward the parking lot.

I follow his gaze and spot her coming down the sidewalk—with my parents in tow.

“Why are my parents here?” I ask. “Did you invite them to our divorce?”

“Nope,” he says.

“Madi,” Katie calls when they’re about twenty yards away, “Dad has a question.”

“Madison Leigh, may your mother and I come and visit?” he calls.

I shoot a look at Oliver who has gotten up and opened two folding chairs I hadn’t noticed. “Yes,” I call back to them before asking Oliver, “What is this?”

But Oliver is now sticking his head through Josh’s door. “Come on out, y’all.”

What is happening?

My parents walk in through Josh’s gate at the same time Oliver’s parents walk out of Josh’s house.

My head swings from Marshall and Heather Locke to my parents. My mom pushes my chin up to close my half-open mouth. “You’ll catch flies, honey,” she says before giving me a gentle hug and taking her seat.

“Oliver…”

“You have a question, Mads?”

“I suspectyoudo,” Ruby says, and Oliver grins.

My heart pounds harder with every beat, trying to leap from my chest when I see his smile.

“I do have a question for you, Madison Leigh Armstrong.” The patio has fallen silent beyond the snapping of the fire. He holds out his hand, and I let him draw me to my feet. “Madi, when I asked you to marry me last fall, while it was for good reasons, it wasn’t for the right reasons. But I haven’t regretted a day of our marriage. I’ve loved watching you step into who you are, watching you peel back layers and letting people see you, going after what you want and what you believe is right. All of that is already on top of the core of who you are. You’re loyal and generous, funny and talented, determined and strong. You’realso brilliant and beautiful. And you understand family in a way that few people get to experience in their life.”

My roommates all put their arms around each other, and the best part is that I know it’s spontaneous.

“I’m still learning about family,” I say, “but Katie, you should be in that mix too.”

Ruby holds out an arm for her, and my friends pull her onto their laps, while Sami and Katie sniffle.

Oliver shakes his head. “More proof that I’m the luckiest man in the world to get to love you. And that’s why, on this, the day of our divorce, I wanted to ask you this again the right way and for the right reasons.” He gets down on one knee.

He. Is. Down. On. One. Knee.

I keep my eyes fixed on his face because my heart is pounding so hard now that I’m not sure I’ll hear him, and I want to make sure I don’t miss it when he says—

“Madison Leigh Armstrong, I love you more every day, and that’s how it’s going to be forever. I don’t care if it’s next week or next decade because I’ll be happy as long as I’m with you, but baby, would you give me the great honor of marrying you?”

I hear crying. So much crying. Roommate sniffles. Oliver’s mom. My mom. Mrs. Lipsky.

Me. The happiness wells in my eyes and spills down my cheeks as happy tears. “Yes, Oliver O. Locke. Yes, on the day of our divorce, I say yes. And I’ll say it tomorrow and whenever we get married which I hope is super soon, and I’ll say it forever.”

Everyone breaks into cheers again, loud and happy ones, as Oliver stands and gathers me to him.

“I love you so much,” he says. “And I do have a ring for you, but I know this was a surprise, so I’ll show it to you later. I want you to have exactly what you want.”

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