“And what did your mother say?”

“Mom was already looking through outdoor furniture catalogs on her phone before we left for school,” Chloe said.

She reached into her coat pocket and took out a little drawing of a horse on a folded sheet of paper.

“Look what I drew in art class,” she said proudly.

I took the paper and studied the blue pencil lines with care.

“This is really good work, Chloe,” I said.