Chapter 1

Rayna tugged down the beaded hem of the body hugging dress she was wearing and wondered if the stylist had gotten her wardrobe confused with Juliette's. Maybe she was imagining things, but her costumes seemed to get shorter and tighter as the tour wore on. She hadn't even put on the four inch heels that were set aside for her and was already concerned with what would be exposed if she moved the wrong way on stage. She glanced in the mirror and leaned over to examine the bags under her eyes. She was grateful that they had such an amazing makeup artist on this tour because she was beginning to look how she felt. Exhausted.

Rayna sighed wearily and sat down on the plush velvet couch adjacent to the vanity in her dressing room. While most days she loved the glitz, the glamour and the rhinestones, tonight she was feeling more worn down than ever, both emotionally and physically. She would give anything to have some privacy and just hole up at home, in a pair of sweats, cuddled up with her girls. Even though a good amount of time had passed since the news of the divorce, the press was still relentless, continuing to print new trashy stories about her that just reiterated the same made up "exclusive" details as the last one.

The equilibrium of the life she had known for the last twelve years had been shaken to its core and though she knew it was for the best, she found herself constantly worrying about her daughters and feeling horrible that she wasn't at home during such a trying time for all of them. Rayna attempted to throw herself into writing new music as a distraction, but despite her best efforts her new album was only half finished and a pile of demos for her new label sat in a suitcase untouched. Rayna loved to think she could always do it all, and usually, regardless of what was going on in her life, she was a pro at keeping it together, pulling herself up by her bootstraps and just getting it done, but this was different. She felt lost, unmotivated and overwhelmed.

On top of all that, and as much as she hated to admit it, she missed Deacon desperately.

When she saw him standing with a pretty blonde outside the hotel in New York a month ago, lab puppy nestled in his arms, she had assumed the woman was just another member of Juliette's entourage, but then came the word girlfriend.

I'm his girlfriend.

Rayna's heart dropped into her stomach and even though she tried to mask the shock on her face she knew immediately she hadn't done too good of a job. She smiled and made polite chit chat for minute before using the girls as an excuse to get away from the seemingly happy couple as quickly as possible. It wasn't until that moment that Rayna could come close to understanding what it was like for Deacon all the years she was married to Teddy.

Seeing the person you're in love with belong to someone else felt like having an ice pick lodged in your heart that was impossible to remove.

Deacon remained cordial to her on tour, but distant, and it killed her. At first Rayna figured it was probably for the best, but even just knowing Deacon was with someone else, someone he wasn't just sleeping with, began to stir up intense feelings of sadness, jealousy and regret.

She knew he deserved to be happy, but it just all felt so wrong, until yesterday.

Rayna was sitting in the lounge in the hotel lobby waiting for Bucky and answering some emails when she overheard Juliette and her assistant talking about how Deacon and Stacey had recently broken up. Being only a few feet away from them, she tried to keep a low profile and not act like she was eavesdropping so she only heard small snippets of the conversation but it was enough to get the general idea.

Couldn't handle his life on the road. Trust. His heart not totally in it. No appreciation for what he does.

Rayna tried not to feel relief when she heard all that, but she couldn't help it. Now the question was, what was she going to do with that information?

The sound of loud knocking on her dressing room door quickly snapped Rayna out of her thoughts.

"Come in!" Rayna called, turning around to see Bucky standing in the doorway looking perplexed.

"What's up Buck?" she asked, bending down to put on her black pumps.

"I have some bad news," he said, scratching his goatee nervously. "Adria has the flu. She's not going to be able to perform tonight, so we're going to need to find a replacement."

"Oh Bucky," Rayna groaned, glancing up at the clock. "We go on in just over an hour. How are we gonna find someone else that quickly?"

"Well, there's always the backup," Bucky offered, already knowing that wasn't going to be a sufficient solution for Rayna.

Rayna sat in silence for a minute and then shook her head, rising from the couch. "No, that's not gonna work. I have an idea, but I have to act fast. I'll be right back."

Rayna hurried through the hallway, dodging clothing racks and Juliette's backup dancers, going through their warm ups. Eventually, she spied Deacon leaning up against the wall, absentmindedly tuning his guitar and chatting with a few of the other band members outside their dressing room.

"Hey y'all," she drawled in greeting, flashing the overly enthusiastic smile that was reserved for public consumption. "Good luck out there tonight."

Rayna cleared her throat as Deacon looked at her expectantly, knowing full well she didn't just come over to wish Juliette Barnes' band luck.

"Deacon, can I grab a minute?" she asked.

He looked at his watch and then glanced down the hall towards the stage entrance. "We go on in a few, so maybe we can talk after the..."

"Just a minute," she pleaded.

He nodded. "See you fellas out there," he said, following Rayna down the hall and into her dressing room.

"What's up?" he asked.

"So, I really hate to ask you this, but I'm in a fix here. Do you think there's any way you could stand in as my lead guitarist tonight? Adria's sick and I'm really not thrilled with her backup and I just wouldn't feel comfortable..."

Deacon looked at her sympathetically as he twisted one of the pegs on the acoustic guitar he was holding.

"You know I'd love to help you out Ray," he said, "but I'm under an exclusive contract with Juliette for this tour. I can't just run around doing whatever or playing for whoever I want, you know that."

"I know."

They stood there silently until Deacon sighed, bracing himself for the explosion he knew would come from his boss for even attempting to make this happen.

"I'll talk to Juliette and if she agrees, I'll do it."

"No, this is my predicament, and I'm putting you in the middle of it, so I'll talk to her," Rayna insisted.

"Do you really think that's the best idea?"

"Deacon, are you forgetting how charming I can be?"

He looked at her, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "No, I remember."

"Alright then, lets catch her before y'all have to go on." Rayna tugged his arm and motioned for him to follow her down the hall.