“What makes the drone go?” he asked.
“It’s got a battery. See, here’s an extra one.” She took a battery out of the case and handed it to him. He turned it carefully in his hands and Wren grinned.
“What happens if the battery dies when it’s way up in the air? Does it crash?”
“Nope. But that’s a great question.” She picked up her controller and tapped her phone screen. “See these numbers here? These are called coordinates. That tells the drone where it is and where it needs to go. Every little spot on earth has coordinates. Let’s see where we are right now.” She did something with her controller. “There. Those are our coordinates.” She pointed at the screen.
“So to answer your question, I can program in emergency coordinates, and if for some reason the drone loses touch with the controller and the battery is close to dying, the drone knows to stop what it’s doing and fly right to this spot where it can make a safe landing, and I know right where it is so I don’t lose it. Here, I’ll show you.”
Kevin’s eyes lit up. He squirmed, but he stayed sitting, as promised.
Instead of standing, Wren kept sitting next to him as she readied the drone. She set it on the launch pad, workedthe controller, and it lifted thirty feet straight up, catching everyone’s attention. Wren circled it around the house.
“Now, pretend the battery’s about to die,” she told Kevin. “It would do this, but without me doing anything.” She tapped the screen, then set her phone aside. The drone stopped circling and started beeping as it changed direction and headed straight for the landing pad.
Wren held up her hands. “Look, no hands.” Kevin laughed.
The drone made a perfect landing and everyone clapped, Kevin loudest of all. Wren stood and took a bow.
“Kevin,” April called. “Tell Wren thank you and come get a burger.”
“Thank you!” He jumped up andzoom. Off he went like a hummingbird.
“Thank you,” April shouted to Wren. She looked much more relaxed.
Wren picked her controller up and looked at her phone.
“Whoops. I lost track of time. I’ve got to hurry if I don’t want to be late for the shoot. At least it’s close by.” She stooped and picked up her drone, then packed everything up.
“Let me carry the case for you, Scrubs,” Elias said. She gave him a big smile every time he used her new nickname, so he used it often.
“I will let you do that, Lion, over. Did I do it right this time?”
“Close enough for guv’ment work,” he joked as he picked up her case.
They headed for her car. They’d driven up separately so that she could go to work, then come back to the party when she was done.
“Chase will probably stop by too when we’re done. At least I’m going to try and talk him into it,” Wren said. “Oh, and I have his wedding invitation on the dash since I knew I’d see him anyway.” She looked back over her shoulder at the party. “Don’tknow why I bothered buying and sending wedding invitations when pretty much everyone we invited is here. I could have just stood on a chair and made a general announcement.”
She pretended to yell, “Hey, everybody, wedding in two weeks. Ellie and Bear’s place because they insisted it’sthewedding spot. Be there or be square.” She shook her head. “We could have saved a bundle if I’d only sent them out to my old colleagues, a couple college friends, all the parents and step-parents. Barbie already knows because duh, she’s my maid of honor. And, let’s see.” She pursed her lips and looked up at the sky, thinking. “Yup, that’s everybody.”
“Oh, don’t give me that,” Elias teased. “You loved hand-addressing every single envelope.” They reached her car. “Besides,” he set the case down and took her in his arms, “you only get to do it once.”
She gave him her warmest smile. “Very true. By the way, do you know what today is?”
“Well, let’s see.” He pretended to think about it. “I believe that on this day three months ago, I was… What was I doing?”
“Keep thinking. It’ll come to you.”
“Oh, right. I was de-quilling a porcupine.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“A mostly naked porcupine, if I recall.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re still a pervert.”
“Happy anniversary.” Elias tangled his hands in her hair and kissed her lips. He kissed the sensitive spot on her neck below her ear.
