(Eric's POV)
The orchard porch idea comes next — a spot we found on a hike two weeks ago, apple trees in neat rows, an old porch swing nobody's used in years. Quiet. Private. Almost right.
I scrap it too. Too soon after visiting my parents, after the emotional weight of that whole weekend still settling in her. I don't trust a result generated that close to another significant event. Too many variables. I need a clean baseline.
I have never once, in my entire career, applied this much rigor to an actual engineering problem. I've solved harder equations with less agonizing.
Rebecca's birthday dinner is small. Connie, Luke, a handful of people from RobotX who've become something closer to family than colleagues over the last year. I sit next to Rebecca, watch her laugh at something Luke
