Page 120 of Betting on the Brainiac

“It truly only took me a day,” he says. “I love you, Madison Leigh. You are extraordinary.”

I reach up to cup his face and run my thumb across his cheek. It’s terrain I explore daily, and I’ll never get tired of it. “How long does it take women to fall in love?”

“Almost four-and-a-half months.”

“Hmm. Longer than men. That sounds right.”

“Unfortunately,” he says with an easy smile. He’s so very good about letting me be where I need to be.

“It’s still off-base though. It only took me one.” I slide my hands around his neck. “One month to fall, and another one to figure it out. But Oliver Octavian Locke, I love you too.”

A soft thump lands on our feet, and we both look down to see Smudge sitting on them.

Oliver laughs and crouches to scratch her head. “You too, Smudgie. You too.”

She gives a satisfied purr and darts away to play with her siblings.

Then Oliver pulls me into his arms and proves he knows exactly how to make me purr too.

Epilogue

Madison

“Dearly beloved, we havegathered you together to celebrate the divorce of Madison and Oliver,” Sami announces.

Everyone raises a goblet, bottle, or mug of cocoa to cheer this.

“Thank you, thank you,” I say. “The judge signed the divorce decree today.” It was absolutely the right thing to do, but since getting the notification this morning, I’ve had a touch of melancholy about it I didn’t expect.

“Congratulations, weirdos,” Ruby says. She and Charlie toast a second time with their cocoa.

It’s a neighbor party once again, though this time the temperature hovers around sixty degrees, and we’re all on Josh’s patio, gathered around his new fire ring. It smokes and crackles in the mid-January dark, as the usual suspects hang out. My roommates, their boyfriends, our favorite neighbors. Ahab hastold Joey to shut up twice and called him Prince Cootie once, so we’re all in a good mood.

“Now what?” Mrs. Lipsky asks. “I’ve been trying, but I’m having a hard time following the plot.”

“We keep dating,” I say. “We spend as much time as we can together. And we figure things out.”

“Is there much to figure out?” Ruby asks. “You’ve already been dating for…how long?”

“Three months?” Oliver says. “Is that right?”

“Depends on when you’re counting from, but yes, basically three months.” It feels like so much longer in the best way.

“But we’ve known each other for closer to six,” Oliver adds.

“Looks like it’s going well, so why get divorced?” Hugo asks. “I’m not being nosy, by the way. Ahab said he wants to know. He’s being nosy.”

“That was my idea,” Oliver says. “With the way we got together, I didn’t want Madison to have any doubts that my feelings for her weren’t about the money, but that was easy to prove. I also didn’t want her to think it was because Ihadto spend time with her. I was into her way before that.”

“All of that,” I agree, “but I didn’t need the divorce as proof of Oliver’s feelings. That was more about needing everyone else out of our relationship. My parents, mainly.”

“Also, my parents would kill me if I got married for real without them being right in the middle of it,” Oliver says.

“Now that I’ve met them,” I tell the group, “I can’t believe his mom even agreed to it the first time. I’m lucky she let me come visit.” We’d spent Thanksgiving at Locke Creek Ranch, and I’d fallen in love with all of it. His parents, who were the most grounded people I’ve ever met. So kind and welcoming. His siblings, who gave him so much crap that it was like watching a live comedy show for hours that never stopped being funny. Thenieces and nephew and cousins and grandparents. The land. The horses. I can’t wait to bring Katie with me the next time I go.

“Things okay with your parents, Madison?” Mrs. Lipsky asks. It bothers her that we’re not close; she’s always going to her daughter’s house and “fooling with the grandkids,” which means giving them candy and buying them new outfits and stuffies all the time.

“Getting better,” I say. “We went over for Christmas dinner, and no one fought.” Katie and I have found that going home as each other’s backup makes every visit easier, but it’s more than that. My parents are trying. All of us are. On Christmas, no one made any snide comments. My mom had no sudden symptoms. And my dad looked flat out impressed when he asked Oliver about the startup.

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