"You want it, you should get it." And to further make his point, he slipped it out of her hands and held it down to his side, holding it in the same hand as the package of strings. At least it freed up both hands for her to search and if she did come across them, he'd give it back for her to put away.
He winced sympathetically but the smile never left. "Sometimes you just need a little reinforcement. I'm going to venture a guess here and say that was the last time you disregarded what you were taught?" Not that he'd ever followed what he was taught perfectly in any area. His rep certainly would've been contradictory evidence against that.
Once they reached the cabinets, he leaned against the one that Cathy wasn't heading for, hesitating slightly. His childhood was one he usually tried to avoid like the plague talking about unless it was a vague story but after brief apprasial, it seemed all right to share.
"There was this man named Ford that owned the general store in town. He caught me eyeing his guitar a couple of times while I was waiting for my brother to finish up his shift and offered to teach me to play." He shrugged. "So I took it."