Emily stopped in her tracks, surprised to see her mother in that car. She had a good reason to be surprised since the wish that she had detailed to Jack had her mother picking up her new car that afternoon. Alice Mignon lowered her window so she could wave excitedly to her daughter. The car came to an abrupt stop, and Alice Mignon popped out of it, her face flush with excitement as she wanted to hear every detail regarding how Emily got along with her author that day. Emily interrupted the barrage of questions. She was too distracted at that moment to have any sort of conversation, so she promised her mother they’d talk all about it over dinner, but that right then she really needed to take Winston for a walk. “Oh,” Alice Mignon said, taken aback by her daughter’s abruptness. She glanced at Winston, who sat on the ground panting and certainly not looking like he was in desperate need for a walk. “Well, how about I join you then?” “Mom, how about instead you go back to the room and freshen up?
