“Oh. Well I’m sure I read it someplace.”
“Alex is an avid reader,” Mrs. Doeton says.
“That’s right, he’ll read anything,” Millie says.
“Although, sometimes I wish he didn’t remember what he read quite so well,” Mrs. Doeton sighs.
“But it’s a gift, to remember everything you read,” I say.
“Not when he repeats it ten times,” Millie says.
“Dear Millie,” Mr. Doeton says, grimacing. “Don’t you know that a thought can be original even though uttered a hundred times before? It’s all in the context.”
“You’re incorrigible, Alex,” Mrs. Doeton exclaims as Millie shakes her head and looks away.
“Thank you, Dot,” he says, tilting his head toward her slightly.
Mrs. Doeton puts her hand on the top of her chest, just at the base of her neck, a posture she often adopts when she is anxious. I look
