Page 191 of Sloane

That’s a relief.

This diamond was burning a hole in my pocket.

I glanced at my watch, then asked, “Ready?”

She zipped up her makeup bag and tucked it in the drawer by the sink.

“Yep!”

It was a good thing the minivan was so easy to get Millie’s car seat in and out of its base, otherwise, I would have just suggested we walk. But getting in the Honda was going to make the surprise that much sweeter.

After we were all buckled in, I pulled out of the driveway and turned directly into the one next door.

“Did you forget something?”

“Nope,” I said as I slowed to a stop at the front door behind the realtor’s car.

“I don’t understand?”

“This is the place I’m considering making an offer on.”

“What? I looked at the listing price, how can you afford this?”

“Well, for the last nineteen years, I probably only paid rent half of that time. So, for the other half, I had zero expenses, which all got invested. And, I got a ridiculous signing bonus from Armstrong Labs. Like, buy a beach house kind of ridiculous.”

“Sloane… this is too much…”

“No, sweetness. It’s perfect. I’ll be next door until you agree to marry me, so I can still help out with Millie as much as possible, and—”

Ashley interrupted me.

“You keep saying when I agree to marry you, but you haven’t technically even asked!”

There’s my cue.

I reached inside my pants pocket for the blue velvet box and presented it right there in the minivan with our daughter jabbering away in her car seat.

It couldn’t have been more perfect.

“Well, baby”–I popped the lid to reveal the one and a half carat round cut diamond I’d spent over an hour picking out—“I’m asking now. Will you marry me?”

Tears streamed down her face, and I was feeling pretty proud of myself for having surprised her twice in twelve hours.

Then, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded-up pink piece of paper and handed it to me.

I cocked my head with furrowed brows. She still hadn’t answered, so I slowly unfurled the paper, glancing at her with every unfold.

Finally, I flattened it out to read…

YES!

I guess I wasn’t as sneaky as I thought.

Epilogue

Five months later…

Sloane

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