"He is quite talented, yes," Alfie agreed, and she motioned to the cookie tray. "Help me finish this, and then we can work on the tree." It was a question, even if there wasn't an uplift in voice at the end of the sentence that would indicate as much.
An afternoon spent with this young woman, cooking and decorating, it would make her feel loss at the end of the day - for her daughter, for her granddaughter. But for now, it was an enjoyable thing to get lost in, pretend family at this time of year.
Yes, it would be a good way to spend the remainder of the afternoon.