Sadie scrunched up her face. “B-o-r-i-n . . .” She dropped her head and mimed snoring. Everyone laughed. “You want my brother, not me.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay then.” Maddie moved her finger along the trackpad, showcasing the easy-to-navigate menus leading to games, build-your-own apps, programming tutorials, and lectures. Pride built as she talked of color theory and how the palette she’d chosen—bright but sophisticated—would appeal to tweens and teens, unlike so many of the programming games on the market that were currently targeting younger kids.

She opened Ada’s Alley and began to use the drag-and-drop components to create code, code that began to play a song, for among Ada’s writings was the possibility that the device that would one day become the computer could compose music and be integrated into the arts as well as the sciences.

“Hey, hold your hat,” Sadie said. “That’s not coding, that’s music.”

“One and the same. If you know how to do it.”

“Will you teach me?”

“No, but you can teach yourself.” Maddie gave Sadie her seat. “Now, tell me, Sadie, have you ever played this before?”

“Nope.”

“Perfect. Then see what you can do in the next couple of minutes while I talk to these nice folks.”

“How do you know they’re nice?”

“Just play.”

“Okey dokey, but if you need backup, you know where to find me.”

More laughs, and Maddie once again was grateful that Nishi had sent them to the day camp. What she’d said to Sadie was true. She’d have missed Danny even more than she already had without her.

Maddie crossed to the center of the stage and launched into her prepared talk on how she made the design simple enough to be accessible to girls of all skill sets, yet aesthetically pleasing, increasing in sophistication as the games and programs progressed from beginner to advanced.

“Much like the Gumberoo series,” she said, “Girl Empowered grows along with our user.”

“Roo!” someone cried out.

Maddie looked out into the crowd and did a double take. It couldn’t be. But it was. He was sitting in the third row in between Delia’s parents. Danny.

Danny.

But how . . . ?

Her chest tightened as she recognized the girl beside Claire from Delia’s photos. Cassie, her best friend. Danny high-fived her and waved to Maddie. Maddie could barely wave back.

Paralyzed onstage, she couldn’t remember what she was supposed to do next. The part that followed hers was Delia’s.

*   *   *

Delia’s heart lodged in her throat the moment Maddie laid eyes on her brother. It had been Lucy’s idea. On top of everything else, Lucy had handled the logistics: reaching out to Maddie’s parents and the camp and arranging the unaccompanied minor status. Delia’s only contribution had been Cassie as an escort from the airport.