There were a couple of chapters posted when the notifications were not working, so check to see if you missed anything! And thank you all for the lovely reviews-I have so appreciated the response to this story - RW
"So, you have something special in mind?" Rayna asked as they crossed the river.
"Yeah," Deacon said, nodding. "I'm thinking dinner at the Southern and then maybe we go to the Ryman."
"Almost makes us sound like tourists," she replied as she exited into downtown.
"Tourists with good taste," Deacon replied. "Besides, we haven't gone out like this for...gosh, well, years."
"Remember that first time we went to the Ryman?" Rayna said, looking over at him while they waited at a red light.
Deacon nodded, slowly. "I do. It was your 21st birthday. Watty took us out for dinner and gave us the tickets."
"My god we were broke back then," Rayna replied, laughing. "I miss a lot of those simpler times, but I do not miss being broke."
"I definitely don't miss being a drunk," Deacon responded. "But I have to admit, I do miss that second apartment we had...with the little balcony."
Rayna pulled up in front of the restaurant. "I fell in love with you in that apartment." She leaned over and kissed him, turning back laughing as the valet opened her door.
They got out of the Escalade and Rayna handed over the keys. Deacon slid his arm around her and they walked up to the door.
"Good evening, Mr. Claybourne, Ms. Jaymes," the hostess said as they came in the door. "I've got your table ready right over here, if you want to follow me."
They walked along the open area of the restaurant past the bar to a booth in the corner.
"My favorite table," Rayna said as she slid into the curved booth. "The best spot in the room to see and not be seen!"
She slid her hand under the table and took Deacon's in her own. "Of course, it's a pretty public place to be. You realize folks will probably see us."
Deacon slid his arm around her and drew her close. "Babe, I want the whole world to know you're mine and I'm yours." He leaned over and kissed her, winking as he drew back after the kiss.
"That's definitely a coming out statement," Rayna replied as she looked over at the table about ten feet away from her. "But I'm okay with it, if you are."
Deacon took her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing it lightly. "Good, because Rayna, I've never been as happy as when you were next to me."
When the valet pulled the Escalade up, Deacon opened the passenger door. "Get in, I'll drive over."
He pulled the truck out onto the street, driving down past the Johnny Cash museum and across Broadway. He swung left and into the alley alongside the Ryman.
"You find a new parking lot?" she teased as they pulled up alongside the Mother Church of Country Music.
"Nah, I just cut a better deal with the valet," Deacon said as he put the truck into park, turned on the blinkers and opened his door.
"Hey, Deacon," a young bearded man said as Deacon got out of the Escalade and walked around to open Rayna's door.
"Thanks, Danny," he said as he pulled open the stage door for Rayna.
"Not quite like queueing up in the old days," Rayna said as they walked into the backstage hall.
"It seemed like this would be easier," Deacon replied. "But we do actually have some seats down on the floor tonight."
They walked down the hall, greeting familiar faces as they went.
"Don't tell me that's Deacon and Rayna."
They both stopped at the sound of the headliner's Eastern Kentucky twang.
Rayna smiled and stepped forward, giving Loretta a big hug. "You look gorgeous as always," she said.
"I'm so glad to see you two here tonight...together," Loretta Lynn replied. "Been a long time comin'."
"Very true," Rayna said, smiling. She looked back at Deacon and looped her arm in his. "But I'm not letting him go again."
"Better not," Loretta replied. "I know true love and this is it."
"Y'all have a good show," Rayna said as gave the country star a kiss on the cheek.
"I'll be lookin' for you two out there," she replied.
Rayna leaned into Deacon as the show reached its conclusion.
"Y'all have been a wonderful audience tonight," Loretta said from the stage. "I've got one more. It's a song I wrote for my husband years ago, but tonight I'm sending it out for some dear friends who joined me for this show."
I've seen him as he awakens in the morning
He reaches out his hand and without a word
As his fingers softly fall upon my face
He lights the flame of desire and makes me want him.
Love is the foundation we lean on and all you need is love to ease your mind.
It doesn't have to be right to be called love
When he gives me more lovin' that a lifetime of looking could ever find.
Deacon leaned over and kissed Rayna. "You are my foundation, babe."
Deacon slid the key into the lock on his front door and opened it, waiting as Rayna walked in past him.
He set his guitar down and pulled her close to him, kissing her deeply. Then, taking her hand, he led her wordlessly to his room.
He switched on the lamp next to his bed, then led her to the bed and had her sit down on the edge. He slowly unbuttoned her blouse, exposing her soft skin. He leaned in and kissed the hollow between her neck and shoulder, then removed his own shirt.
Rayna slid back on the bed, as Deacon slipped off her shoes and loosened her pants. He pulled his own off and joined her on the bed. He moved slowly, kissing her, his hands moving down her body. Her body arched up slightly, affected by his ministrations.
"Babe," he said, his hands touching her breasts, her waist, all over her body.
She reached for him, pulling him close, hungering for every part of him.
"I love you, Deacon," she said as it all rushed over her. "Always and forever."
She woke up in the middle of the night to find the bed next to her empty. She pulled the blanket around her and walked out into the living room to find Deacon sitting at the table, his journal in front of him.
"Hey, babe, you should get some sleep," she admonished.
"Sorry, I woke up and just couldn't get back to sleep," he responded. "Too much on my mind."
She sat down across from him. "Like what?"
"I don't know, it's just hard to turn off the track of thoughts playing over and over in my mind," he replied. "I'm trying to think about why I started drinking-you know, I can't even really remember when. And I know every time I went to rehab, well, except for that third time, I really did want to get sober. I just can't seem to work out in my head, why I kept drinking, why I drove you off, why I ruined my liver, how I missed out on so many years of Maddie's life."
Rayna moved over next to him. "We gotta figure out how to stop that track," she said, taking his hands in hers. "That doesn't do you any good...not right now, not ever."
Deacon looked up at her, his eyes filled with sadness. "Problem is, I don't think I can shut it off. No matter what I try to do, Ray, it just keeps going round and round."
"Come back to bed with me, babe," she said, standing up and holding out her hand. "You're not going to solve anything out here."
Deacon sat for a moment, then stood up and took her hand. She slid her arm around his waist and they walked slowly back into the bedroom.
Rayna pulled the covers back and Deacon laid down on the bed. He rolled onto his side and she slid in next to him, her body matching the curves of his. She reached up and turned off the lamp on the table.
"Okay, so instead of listening to that old track," she said, "let's make a new one."
She pulled his arm around her. "So, I've been thinking about our life, when we're married and a family, living in the same house. When I wake up every single morning next to you, how we're going to be grandparents, get old together, probably end up playing shows at casinos."
"We're not playing the casino circuit," Deacon responded. "A Vegas residency, maybe or Branson, but I have to draw the line somewhere."
"I hear the Mohegan Sun is nice," Rayna replied. "Okay, so maybe we stay off the gambling boats."
"I wouldn't mind living up at the cabin more of the time," Deacon said. "I mean, after the girls are grown. I always kinda wished I'd spent more time there, but it was also hard to be there without you."
"You didn't take your ladies out there?" she teased.
"No," Deacon replied, quietly. "I never went up there with anybody but you and Maddie." He tightened his arm around her, his hand resting on her breast. "I bought that place for you and I guess I kept it all those years thinking about when we'd be there, like we always dreamed."
"And we will," Rayna replied. "I see us having Christmas up there, Maddie and Daphne with their families, the room filled with love and family, you with gray hair and me, well, without a wrinkle on my face."
Deacon chuckled. "Not one?"
"I have very good skin," she replied. "And a fantastic stylist who is never letting this hair go gray."
"I'll love you when you're old and gray and wrinkly," Deacon said, leaning in for a kiss. "We're going to be awesome old people."
Rayna smiled. "Yes, we are."
The song is Love is the Foundation, written by William Cody Hall. It was Loretta Lynn's 7th #1 hit, on the charts in 1973. Get well soon, Loretta!