“What?” Valerie asked, still giggling. “You don’t sound confused when you talk.”
His eyebrows went up again, but he didn’t try to explain to her. If she hadn’t noticed how he stumbled all over his words and said ridiculous things, there was no need for him to point it out.
“You want a cookie?” she asked, holding out a napkin that had one left.
“No, thank you,” he replied. “I try not to eat on the job.”
“Oh,” Valerie said before she looked at him quizzically, and they both began to laugh again. “Do you want it?”
“No, thanks,” he said, although he didn’t offer another silly explanation this time.
Once she was done with her cookies and had walked her trash over to one of the nearby receptacles, Alec noticed it was just about time to wrap it up. Some of the kids had already started to he
