Katharine

I came late to this family. And, in all its convoluted trails, this is, in fact, a family.

I was smitten with Teddy Conrad the moment I met him at a State dinner at the White House, not long after he'd come to Washington as the junior senator from Tennessee. He was boyishly handsome, with a quick smile that would cause his eyes to crinkle merrily. He had an ease about him that seemed unusual for someone who was not a DC insider. We were seated at the same table and hit it off immediately. By the end of the evening, he had asked me out on a date.

We took things slow, though, which was alternately sweet and frustrating. Frustrating, in that I already knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. Sweet, in that he wanted to be sure that his daughters were comfortable with our relationship.

He had explained to me about his marriage to and divorce from Rayna Jaymes, a country music singer back in Nashville, and the mother of his two daughters. He also told me about his second wife, Peggy, and her death. It was some time after I had met his girls and gotten to know them a bit, that he told me the story of Maddie. It had endeared him to me all the more to know that he had wholeheartedly welcomed that girl into his life and his heart when she was born, even though he was not her biological father. And I felt sad for him as I'd listened to him talk about the difficult time he'd had accepting her desire to bond with her biological father.

I loved Maddie and Daphne instantly and had enjoyed getting to know them. By the time Teddy and I finally did get married, they had accepted me into their lives and we were great friends. And that, more than anything, had pleased Teddy.

One of the things I loved most about the girls was when, after Teddy had asked me to marry him, I found out that he had first asked Maddie and Daphne for their blessing. And then they both came to me, separately, and talked to me about how much they loved him, about how they'd felt about their parents' divorce, about Teddy's marriage to Peggy, and Rayna's marriage to Deacon. They both gave me their blessing to become part of the Conrad family, entrusting me to love their dad the way they felt he deserved.

We didn't get to Nashville often, although whenever he went there I went with him. I was a lawyer in a DC firm with a busy practice. I went to other places in Tennessee with my husband when I could, but usually he went without me and we caught up with racy phone calls at night. But when Maddie got married, it had been a special occasion, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Maddie was a beautiful bride and her new husband, Jake, was breathtakingly handsome. They were the perfect couple, the heir apparents as country royalty, I was told. Daphne, as her bridesmaid, was stunning. She was growing up to be a very lovely young lady. Both girls had amazing singing voices and Maddie had already started her performing career, in the footsteps of her parents, Rayna Jaymes and Deacon Claybourne. Daphne was still in high school, but I knew she'd be stepping out herself before long.

And then there was Sadie. Rayna and Deacon's five year-old. A bit of a surprise for them, I thought, but they were clearly head over heels in love with her. As was everyone else. I remember when I first met her, as a toddler, and I swear it was the only time my ovaries ever ached. Between her soft wavy dark brown hair, her crystal clear blue eyes, her little bow mouth and her outsized personality, she was enchanting. And after the first time I met her, every time Teddy went to Nashville, I went too, just to get my hands on that precious girl.

Maddie sent an email about six weeks after the wedding with the link to the wedding pictures. Dad/Katharine, Here they are! I think they turned out so well. It'll be hard to pick the ones to keep. My favorite is a candid shot of all of us in the brides' room. I think you will love it as well. Love you both so much, Maddie.

I scrolled through the pictures as I waited for Teddy. He had a late vote and I had actually beaten him home. Maddie had understated things, as usual. The pictures were stunning. She looked radiant and I felt as proud as if she were my own. And then I found the one she referenced.

Maddie was the intended focus of the picture, standing on the little riser in her wedding gown. She was looking over at Teddy, Daphne and me. Deacon and Rayna were standing together, in profile, Rayna leaning into him, Deacon's hands gripping her arms protectively. But what made the picture, of course, was Sadie. She actually became the focus as she stood with her hands on her hips, leaning to her left, her eyes closed as she mugged for the camera. I couldn't help but laugh out loud.


I had never been a fan of country music so, when I met Teddy, I scarcely knew who Rayna Jaymes was. I mean, I knew the name, like I knew Reba McIntyre or Dolly Parton or Shania Twain, but I knew nothing about her until I met Teddy. Teddy was careful in what he said about her to me, so when things got serious between us, I spent an afternoon Googling her. I found lots of information about her career and her rise to stardom, her complicated but not well-documented early relationship with Deacon Claybourne as well as his struggle with alcoholism, her marriage to Teddy and the disclosure that they were already expecting a baby at the time. There were stories about her during the time that Teddy ran for mayor of Nashville. About the death of her father and starting her label. Stories about her relationship with another country singer, Luke Wheeler, that culminated in a public proposal and a fairly swift end to the relationship. Her subsequent marriage to Deacon and the rise of her label. And, of course, that awful accident where she nearly died and Deacon had been briefly jailed, and the whole revelation that Deacon was Maddie's father.

Teddy and I didn't talk much about that, but I knew that he had eventually made peace with it, and that he and Maddie had a good, loving relationship. On the occasions that I saw Maddie and Deacon together, I would find myself watching them and I was strangely comforted to see that she had a very loving, healthy relationship with him as well. I actually liked Deacon a lot, something I didn't share with Teddy, because of the history, and I was glad he was a good father. I think, privately, Teddy was glad as well.

Rayna was a bit wary of me in the beginning, I think. Maybe because of Peggy, maybe because it meant another stepmother for the girls. But we were eventually able to forge a good relationship and I think she finally accepted me into her big, extended family when she saw me cuddled up with Sadie. Sadie truly was the one who brought everyone together and kind of broke those walls down.


Looking at that picture and Sadie's big goofy grin made me smile all over again.