Chapter 21 Colton
Colton
Colton raised an eyebrow at his uncle. “Granddad sent this?”
He turned over the well-worn wooden violin case. The one Zach used was absolutely nicer.
“Yep.” Ted nodded. “Said he bought it fifty years ago from some fiddler short on cash. It’s walnut, made in France, and probably a hundred years old or more.”
It certainly appeared a hundred years old to Colton. “Why did he send this?”
“Pa took a liking to your friend. Said he has manners and can play a fiddle like no one he’s heard in decades.” He chuckled. “He had the kids helping him root through the attic until he found it. It’s been sitting up there for years.”
Colton tried not to react to his uncle referring to Zach as your friend. He and Zach were doing a crap job pretending if his grandfather knew. He slid a thumb under a latch and worked it up. Repeating the process, he popped open the lid. “Christ on a skateboard, that’s unexpected.”
The lush royal blue velvet was almost pristine. He ran a finger over the soft plush fabric and whistled.
“This is sweet.” He shut the top. “Zach? Can you come into the kitchen, please?”
“Be right there.”
Zach arrived wearing the tight black pants and white western-style shirt he wore when he’d played. His bare feet slapped lightly on the wooden floor.
“Yes…? Good morning, Sheriff.” He glanced at Colton, before looking Ted in the eye. “Did you need to see me, Sir?”
“You relax, son. Call me Ted.” His uncle gave Zach a real smile. The kind he usually reserved for friends and family.
“No, Sir.” He shook his head like he’d been asked to drink poison. “I can’t do that.”
“Why’s that?” Ted raised an eyebrow. “You’re a guest of the family, not a prisoner.”
“Maddie always said to be respectful to good people who spend their days helping others. Not only are you the Sheriff, you and your family have been as kind and generous to me as anyone I can imagine. If you don’t deserve respect, no one does.”
Ted blinked over at Colton, his eyes dancing. “You could take a hint from your friend.”
There was that word again—friend. At least it wouldn’t be a surprise if they got together after this whole mess was over. “Oh, kiss off. What’s that old saying? Family breeds contempt or some such?” Colton waved Zach over. “Grandpa sent this over. He wants you to play it today.”
“Really?” Zach’s eyes lit up like Christmas, and he slowly raised the lid. “Oh, my goodness. Look at this angel.”
Colton told himself that he wasn’t jealous about the way Zach lifted the fiddle out of the case and stroked it. It was a lie. Colton could use a little stroking from Zach. It would just have to wait.
“This is….” Zach turned it over and his eyes almost popped from his face. “This is a Guarneri.”
Colton moved closer, not just to see the violin. “Is that good? The case doesn’t look like much.”
“It’s just dusty.” Zach closed the top with his free hand and ran his fingers over the wood. “Nothing a bit of love won’t clean up.”
Where Zach had brushed, the wood seemed brighter, but it still seemed like it wasn’t long for the world. “Or you could buy a new one.”
“Get a… Colton, this case is worth more than my violin.”
He eyed the old thing again, but didn’t see it. “Get out.”
“Most cases today are made by machine and aren’t made to last. This was made by hand to house and protect this amazing work of art.”
The passion in Zach’s voice did things to Colton. Things that made him want to strip the guy and kiss his naked body all….
“Excuse my ignorance, but what’s a Guarneri?” Uncle Ted’s voice hit like a bucket of cold water. Thankfully, he was focused on the violin and not the heat searing Colton’s cheeks.
“Amati and his sons were the first of the famous Italian violin makers. His son had two apprentices, Stradivari and Guarneri. Everyone’s heard of Stradivari, but Guarneri was pretty good too. His grandson Bartolomeo, however, might have been as good or better than Stradivari. This is one of his.”
The last words were whispered into the quiet house.
“Well that’s a mule kick to the balls,” Colton said, drawing a scowl from his uncle. “What? Granddad’s been sitting on a fortune, and he trots it out for Zach to play. That’s pretty crazy.”
“Who knows if the old guy knows that it’s special.” Ted shrugged. “He probably didn’t. No one in the family has taken up violin before Tyler, and he’s still using a rental.”
He tended to agree with his uncle. It was surprising grandpa left it up there at all, the way he loved his instruments. “You want a bleach cloth to wipe it down with?”
“Colton!” Zach sounded like Momma when Colton told an off-color joke she didn’t like. “You can’t treat the case like a piece of ranch equipment. It might not be as valuable as the violin, but the case is a masterpiece too.”
“You got some mineral oil, son? That might do it.” Ted gave the case a once over real careful, then peered at the fiddle. “So you think it plays?”
Lord, that would suck hairy donkey balls if it didn’t.
“Not like this.” He moved it around so he could inspect it from all sides. “It looks in great condition, but strings go bad over time, even if they aren’t played. I have plenty of extras in my case. If you give me a few minutes, I can restring and tune it right up in about ten minutes or so.”
Zach gently placed the violin back in its case and practically ran out of the room. Ted’s smile did Colton’s heart good. If his uncle liked him, Colton wasn’t seeing Zach with just his libido.
The sound of Zach’s bare feet tickled Colton’s pulse. He might be right, there was more to Zach than his hot body and beautiful face, but his dick didn’t care about those other good qualities. Shit, he needed to get laid.
Carrying his case, Zach set it on the table next to Granddad's. He didn’t wait for permission before he set to work.
Ted nodded toward the back door. “Why don’t you clean up the case while I call Nanette and let her know it’s going to be a few minutes more before we get back.”
Zach cradled the violin like it would break if he breathed on it too hard. Colton got it. For a fiddle player, this was that diamond in the rough.
Granddad insisted Zach play the thing now that he’d tuned it, so Ted had Zach leave his violin at the house. “So you won’t refuse to ,” Colton said. “If it breaks, that’s on Granddad not you.”
“I’m not scared I’ll break it, I’m in shock,” he said. “This is like finding a missing DaVinci. The average violinist never gets to touch a Bartolomeo Guarneri.”
Then this made sense, because Zach wasn’t average. “You said people play these old things all the time.”
“Only the very best, who are world renowned, and paid a fortune for their instrument.”
And his grandfather had one hidden away all these years. “I’m glad you get the chance to play, honey. You deserve it.”
“Right, I deserve it.” Zach snorted. “I’m no one special, and the only family I knew was a lifelong criminal. Sounds like I’m the last person who should touch this. How do you know I won’t steal it and run off?”
Colton understood some of what Zach was thinking.
Even two years later, he wondered what people thought of him in a deputy uniform.
“First, whatever your grandfather did isn’t who you are.
We get to make the decisions that define us.
And second, this is Whitebark County. Where would you go?
You’re twenty miles from the nearest town, and I’d find you before you reached it.
Not hard to find the hottest guy in the state, clutching a wooden violin case, yelling at his phone because the GPS lost signal.
” Zach smiled shyly, and Colton wanted to kiss it away so damn badly.
“But since I know you’re not like that, you won’t make me track you down. ”
“I’m not sure why you think I’m such a good guy, Colton.” Zach’s smile faded all the way to an almost-frown. “I want to be, especially for you, but actions talk. Not only don’t I have the pedigree of a good person, but I manipulated you into helping me.”
He’d thought Zach’d let that go by now. “Honey, we already said we wouldn’t talk about that.
Past is past. Can’t change it. All you can do is prove it isn’t you.
As for your pedigree, my dad’s a murderer.
Uncle Ted stole a car as a teen, and Grandpa, who was the sheriff then, told him it was jail or the Navy.
And you’ve met Momma.” He gave Zach a side-eye and a shake of the head.
What utter nonsense—like Colton was a debutante?
He was a dirt farmer. “We all have family we were born into, and it comes with baggage. The family you choose says more about you. You’re one of my people now. ” He hoped.
Damn, that felt good to say. Colton meant every word, and he hoped it would help Zach understand he had people who cared.
Things had sucked for him. Colton couldn’t imagine being all alone in the world.
Even when they fought, he always knew his family would be there for him.
Zach had lost that, and Colton wanted to help fill that hole.
Zach sighed. “I….”
“You are a good guy, and I intend to keep you for as long as you’re willing, so stop it.” Colton kissed him. Nothing long and drawn out or nothing, or even particularly hungry. Just a kiss to put that period at the end of his sentence.
Okay, that was pretty damn cool.
Colton straightened up, shooting Zach a grin. “You ready to head over? It’s pretty day. Want to walk it?”
Zach’s face was red, but his smile told the real story. He reached out and hooked his pinky around Colton’s.
“Walking’s fine.”