The Keeper of Secrets Read Online Free PDF Page A

and although he tried to ignore it, I could see it was hurting.”
    “He’s been out with the boys all summer—”
    “Oh, I know. He told us all about the fish he and Aaron caught, but this came from baseball.”
    David gave him a sheepish grin. “More than likely.”
    “David, I know he’s only fourteen and he likes his sports, but I think you should be seriously considering his future. Baseball could injure his fingers, has injured his fingers. If he broke one, it might set crookedly and that’d change his whole fingering pattern. It’s my opinion that you should restrict him to watching. Do they know that he plays baseball in the summer? His teachers? If he had an agent, he’d tell you it must stop and Maestro Gomez would say the same. This symposium is a tremendous opportunity and his hands must be perfect.”
    David stirred the liquid in his cup and didn’t answer immediately.
    “I first took Dan to Wrigley Field when he was five, ’bout the same age I was when my dad took me to a ball game in New York. He wasn’t American so he couldn’t really see the whole baseball experience, but he took me, his American-born kid. I loved it passionately and so does Dan. The Cubs mean the—”
    “And I’m not suggesting for a moment that he should stop going with you—”
    “But playing is part of his commitment to the game. He acts out those games with his pals, just like I did. Part of coming home and being where he belongs is playing baseball.” David looked across at the man to make sure he understood the point. The pale, narrow face was frowning, and the gray eyes looked tired and full of concern.
    “How does Cindy feel about it?”
    “She’d agree with you, one hundred and ten percent. She’s the one who’s battled with him when he didn’t feel like practice, since he was four. I know she’s told him to be careful of his fingers, but you can’t approach a ball sport that way.”
    “Talk to him about it, please? He can still be a fan. All gifted people have to make sacrifices. They have to put their destiny first.”
    David shook his head. “Dan doesn’t see himself as gifted and he wants to be like his friends—”
    “He’s not. He won the Hillier competition; his path in life is different. He’ll see that if you explain it to him, I’m sure. You must help him to see it, otherwise you’re failing him.”
    T wo days later Cindy sat at their upright piano accompanying Daniel as he practiced. He’d done his usual selection of scales, major and minor, separate and slurred, melodic and harmonic; and now he was working his way through a lively Hungarian dance. He didn’t need to look at her to know she was watching him closely.
    “Good boy! . . . Watch that thumb . . . right through to the heel of the bow, give me a nice sustained sound . . . on the string, quite weighty, give it some strength . . . lovely! Nice flourish at the end.”
    It’d been their daily ritual for ten years, whether they were at home or in Philadelphia. She’d watched and listened to his teachers, read books, watched DVDs, and studied on the Internet; he respected her considerable knowledge. Pleasing her was as important to him as pleasing his teachers. He and his mother had such a well-refined shorthand that one look could convey whole conversations, and he knew what her likely reaction would be to almost everything.
    As he was cleaning his violin she called him into the living room. It was a Sunday morning and he was surprised to see that his father hadn’t yet left for the golf course. There seemed to be tension in the room and he paused in the doorway.
    “What’s up?” he asked, looking from one to the other. Cindy smiled at him and patted the sofa.
    “We want to talk to you.”
    “Can’t it wait till tonight, Mom? I’m meeting Aaron by the bridge.”
    “Going fishing?” his father asked.
    “Playing ball. The guys from Stonyridge are biking over, then we’ll go swimming with them. I’ll be home