Tyler went pale, but Zach pointed to his own eyes. “On me. We got this.”
He got a small smile for his pep talk, and he nodded to Colton so they could start.
Drawing the bow back, he locked eyes on Tyler and launched into a folk song. Colton strummed along as he had when they were on the dock.
After playing the song once, Tyler took over. As they discussed, he kept his eyes on Zach’s and played back what Zach taught him.
He’d kept Tyler’s part simple, and when he nailed it, Zach picked up the more difficult part while Tyler grinned back at him.
They repeated this twice before they turned to the family and played the last bit together. When it was over, Tyler turned, and Zach pulled him into a quick hug.
The family erupted with applause, and Zach nudged Tyler forward to take a bow.
“You did good, honey,” Colton said from behind.
It made him light up to see Tyler soak up the praise. “He did good.”
Jerry glanced up and mouthed, “Thank you.”
“Like I said, you did good.”
Colton went back to his seat, and Jerry took over.
“Okay, let’s play something a bit easier that we can all chime in on.”
“Sounds good.” They set to playing, and it was like magic, the music weaving in and out, filling the air. This wasn’t performing—not even a little. This wasn’t about money or fame. This was music in its deepest form.
The jam session had gone from intense to silly. They were playing a bluegrass version of ‘Gin and Juice’ when the sharp report snapped out, shocking the hell out of him, and the music stopped. “What was that?” Zach asked. He knew it was a gunshot, but hoped the explanation was innocent.
“Colton, call down to Vernon and find out what the fuck happened.” Ted rolled his eyes dramatically. “I bet the boys found another prairie rattler down there. They’re bad this year.”
“I’m on it.” Colton dug out his phone, even as Ted’s phone started ringing.
“Hey. What’s going on down there?” The sheriff began to frown, the heavy eyebrows drawing down. “Get your ass over to the house. Now.”
“Sheriff?” It was amazing how quickly Colton went from easy-going cowboy to sharp-eyed cop.
The transition upended the peaceful calm Zach had settled into. He should have known better. Dark clouds followed him his whole life. Why did he expect different just because Colton told him it would be okay?
“I hear you. Come on.” Ted hung up the phone. “There are folks down by your momma’s place.”
Colton frowned. “Who? Why?”
The obvious answer left Zach wishing he could crawl into Jerry’s attic and hide. It was possible he was wrong, but the odds favored it had been the brothers coming for Zach. They’d scared him the night Colton helped him escape, but after what they did to their father, he knew the true meaning of terror.
Zach made eye contact with Colton.
“They’re looking for me.”
