The Secret Chord: The Virtuosic Spy - Book 2 by Kathryn Guare Read Free Book Online

was—and considered the question. "Quiet, but friendly. You know the morning crowd here. Quiet and friendly suits them fine. Somebody's got to be the audience for these characters. He's starting to talk a little more, though. Smiles more. Fits him better. He's not really shy. Just acts like a guy trying to get comfortable with himself again."
    Yvette's clipped insights were in tune with Kate's. Conor was growing more talkative with her as well, offering glimpses of a dry mischievous humor, and she was pleased he'd become a regular at Longchamp's. The local all-purpose emporium—a place where carpet tacks, dish drainers and flannel shirts could still be found under one roof—was the oldest business in Hartsboro Bend, and stood at the center of town in both the literal and figurative sense. She liked the idea of him settling into its convivial atmosphere as a member of the community.
    Yvette rapped the handle against the floor, patiently amused. "Do you even need a mop?"
    Startled out of her private thoughts, Kate gave a brisk nod. "Of course. That one's perfect. You still haven't said what you think of him," she added, following Yvette to the front of the store.
    "Seems nice enough. Ask me again next week. We're hiking Elmore on Sunday."
    "Oh? Mount Elmore?"
    Another surprising piece of news. Apart from solitary walks around her thirty acres Conor had never expressed interest in any wider exploration, but then again Kate realized she'd never suggested showing him anything.
    "Is Bobby going, too?"  
    Yvette had divorced her husband ten years earlier and Bobby Gilligan—a captain with the local fire department—was her longtime boyfriend.
    "Nope, he's working." Yvette rang up the sale and handed over the mop. "Are you jealous? Because you looked a little bit jealous, just then."
    "Don't get started with this."
    "Not me. You started it. Sounds like you should get to know this guy better yourself."
    "Enough," Kate warned. "You and Abigail double-team me with a matchmaking radar that never shuts off, and I haven't got time for it."
    "No? When will you?"
    "Yvette—"
    "Okay, okay. I'm just saying. There's never enough time, so don't wait for that. Anyway, this Mount Elmore deal was Jigger's idea. I'll spend most of the day keeping track of him." Yvette handed Kate her change. "He's out back. Go say hello before you leave? He'll be disappointed if you don't."
    Kate exited through the rear door and found Yvette's twelve-year-old son sitting at the end of the porch. His name was Andrew but he was universally known as "Jigger," a fitting nickname for the boy's special brand of excitable movement. At the moment he was unnaturally still, squinting at a guitar across his lap, but at the sight of Kate he beamed a smile of pure joy. He set the guitar aside and jumped up to throw his arms around her.
    "Kate! I'm so glad to see you. I missed you!"
    "Has it been that long? Well, I missed you too, honey-bun."
    Kate lifted Jigger's slender figure with an affectionate squeeze. He was a sweetly handsome little boy, smaller than average for his years, with a tumble of blonde hair framing a pixie-like face.  
    His green eyes sparkled with a remarkably beautiful starburst pattern, and Yvette had once explained she'd known something was different about her son as soon as she'd seen them. At the age of two he'd been diagnosed with Williams Syndrome. The rare genetic disorder caused a range of disabilities, but they were often combined with unusual cognitive and verbal strengths.
    Unique to this particular condition was an indiscriminately loving, empathic personality—a trait both endearing and worrisome. Jigger was as likely to offer a hug to a stranger as a friend, and this was an endless source of anxiety for his mother.
    A deep affinity and aptitude for music was also common in Williams Syndrome children. With an arm around the boy's shoulders, Kate noted the string hanging loose from his guitar's tuning peg and the jumbled circle of wire