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“So what’s the verdict for our Minnie?” Winnie asked.

Matthew’s shoulders lowered. “I think she’s going to require some major work to recover from this.”

“Of course she will,” Winnie returned. “She’s, like, two-hundred years old.”

He pulled in his lips. “A little respect for the wounded, please?”

“My apologies,” she said, her hands raised in a gesture of retreat. She looked at the rain now pouring down the windows in droves. “So what are we supposed to do now? Call for an Uber?”

“No, they’re too hard to find all the way out here. Of course I had to take the scenic route in the dark,” he mumbled. “We’re only about thirty minutes from Foxwood, though. Char should be able to pick us up.”

Thirty minutes alone in the dark with Matthew Wintour? Winnie didn’t mind if she did.

He pulled out his phone, clicked on his sister’s name, then held the device in his hand against the steering wheel. He placed the call on speaker as the other end rang throughout the quiet space of the car.

“How do you have service?” Winnie asked.

Before he could answer, his sister picked up. “Matthew?”

“Hiya, Char,” he said.

“Hiya, you okay?”

“Yeah, we’re all right. You’re on speaker with me and Winnie.”

“Oh, Winnie! Aw, I love Winnie. All right, Winnie?”

Winnie beamed. She had only spoken one other time with Matthew’s sister since the park, yet she felt as if she and Char were the best of friends.

“Hi, Char,” Winnie greeted back.

“Is my brother behaving himself?”

“Well…” Winnie began.

“Char, listen,” Matthew interrupted. “Before you and Winnie get into another Matthew-Teasing-Fest, I just needed to tell you, Minnie has finally died on me.”

“Wait, what?” Char asked. “You’re breaking up, Matty. I just talked to Winnie. How did she die on you?”

A guttural laugh sounded at the back of Winnie’s throat.

Matthew shot her a look, but his eyes wrinkled at the sides, a clear sign he was finding this humorous, too. “Not Winnie. Minnie.”

“Oooh,” Char said. “That stupid lemon? Why haven’t you gotten rid of it already?”

“That’s what I’ve been saying this entire time,” Winnie piped in.

“Shh.” Matthew put a finger to his lips.

“Are you telling me to hush?” Char asked, her voice taking on an attitude.

“No, I’m telling Winnie to hush,” he clarified.

“I thought Minnie was dead? Why would she need to hush?” Char asked.

Again, Winnie laughed.

“Oh my giddy aunt,” Matthew said, pressing a hand to his brow. “Listen, Char. My car has died, and Winnie and I are stranded near Littlethorpe, I think. Is there any way you could pick us up?”