A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

Chapter 21

"Show me what you've got, Mr. Claybourne. I paid good money to see these cards." Rayna eyed Deacon. There was a pile of candy in between them on his bedside table.

"You have no idea what you just set yourself up for. I got ya right where I want ya, Mrs. Claybourne." Deacon arched his eyebrow. His insomnia coupled with the fact that he just couldn't breathe had kept him from sleeping, so they had started a poker game to pass the time.

"Then show your cards and quit talkin' 'bout it." Rayna countered.

Deacon laid his hand down on the table. "That's a flush, babe." He started to reach for the candy.

"Hold on just one minute." Rayna laid her cards down. "Full house, sugar, that candy is mine."

"Where'd you learn how to hustle like that?" Deacon grinned at her.

"From this really obnoxious Texan I used to know. He could hustle cards like no one's business. He used to teach me things while I was supposed to be doing homework." Rayna winked at him.

"What is going on in here?" Mike walked into the room.

"In another life we taught my wife how to hustle poker and she learned her lesson a little too well." Deacon retorted.

"As much as I hate to shut down a heater we need to start getting you ready for surgery." Mike said.

"Ok, let's do this. I'm ready to have this over with." Deacon clapped his hands.

"We are ready for this." Rayna patted Deacon's leg.

Maddie and Daphne came into the room before Mike could start explaining anything.

"There are my girls." Deacon waved at them.

"Ok, this surgery is gonna take anywhere from four to eight hours. It is all gonna depend on what I see when I open his chest up. I don't have a set game plan. It could be a simple repair or a valve replacement if that's necessary. I will keep you updated every step of the way. All of his test have come back good I don't anticipate any problems at all. The surgery could take a little longer because I'm gonna have a plastic surgeon help close his chest so he doesn't have a big scar." Mike gave them the run down.

"That all sounds really good." Rayna nodded her head.

"Do you have any questions for me?" Mike asked them.

"No, I think we're good." Maddie answered.

"If ya'll wanna wish him luck do it now. We are gonna take him back and get this show on the road. We want this man back in fighting shape." Mike squeezed Deacon's shoulder.

"Good luck, daddy, you're gonna do great." Maddie kissed his cheek.

"I love you, princess." Deacon smiled.

"I love you, daddy, I'll see you when you get out." Daphne kissed his other cheek.

"I love you more, Squirt." Deacon winked at her.

"Come here, my love, you're gonna do so good. You are gonna feel so much better when get out. Good luck, baby." Rayna kissed him deeply and then pecked his lips over and over.

"I love you so, so much, Ray. I will see you later." Deacon rested his forehead against hers.

"Darlin', I'm gonna be right here waitin' for you. Your momma and your brother will be here. We all love you so much and you get to be as big an asshole as you wanna be with us we're just thankful you're gonna be ok." Rayna rubbed her nose against his.

"I love ya'll too." Deacon ran his hand over her cheek and kissed her again.

"Ok, baby, we gotta let them get you ready now. We are prayin' for you." Rayna had to make herself pull away from him.

"Ya'll girls take care of your momma. She's gonna need you to be strong for her. I'm countin' on you." Deacon blew them a kiss.

"We are gonna take good care of her, dad." Maddie blew him a kiss back.

Daphne put her arm around her mom's shoulders. "Come on, mom. Rhett should be here with breakfast any minute."

"Rhett, darlin', I love you to death, but you gotta quit that pacin'. You're 'bout to drive me crazy." Rayna looked up at her brother-in-law.

"I can't be still. I'm an athlete we burn off our nervous energy by workin' out." Rhett crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall.

"You're gonna be pacin' a long time then." June told him.

"Your brother has a long established history of making everyone worry about him." Tandy added.

"Rollin' in at six AM. Callin' from a jail cell. Gettin' called to a hospital because he drank two fifths of Jack. Tryin' to pay the liquor store clerk in Monopoly money." Rayna listed off.

"Monopoly money?" JC questioned.

"Deacon and Vince you don't need to know any more than that for it to be explained." Rayna shook her head.

"Deacon Claybourne and Vince Grayson those were the names of the four aspirin I'd have to take for the headaches they gave me." Bucky snorted.

"They were that bad together?" Sadie asked.

"That's just puttin' it nicely. Hell on wheels is the perfect way to describe them." Rayna said.

"Mom, you know you've told us where you and dad met and how, but you've skimped on the details a little bit. Tell us now. It'll keep your mind off of worrying about dad." Daphne suggested.

"Do ya'll really wanna hear this?" Rayna asked.

"Yeah, mom, we wanna hear it." Maddie said eagerly.

"Alright, since ya'll twisted my arm I'll tell ya." Rayna crossed her legs and let her mind take her back to that night so many years ago.

Nashville, Tennessee 1988

"Hey, Song Bird, you look ready to go." Watty walked into the back room of the Bluebird with a smile on his face.

"I'm so nervous, Watty. I'm afraid that I'm not gonna be any good and they're all gonna laugh at me." Rayna wore a lacy black dress and white cowboy boots with fringe on them. Her red hair was piled on top of her head in curls. Her delicate fingers toyed with the strings of an old guitar.

"Song Bird, you're gonna be great. You have nothing to be nervous about." Watty put his hands on her shoulders.

"It's not my voice I worry about. It's my guitar playing or lack thereof." Rayna replied.

"At least you know what your weaknesses are. I was worried that was gonna be a fight. I have a solution to that problem." Watty informed her.

"I'm open to any suggestion on that front at this point." Rayna shrugged her shoulders.

"Hold that thought for just a minute." Watty opened the door and gestured for someone to come in. "Rayna, I have someone I'd like you to meet."

Rayna turned around to face the newcomer. "Alright, Watty."

Deacon leaned up against the wall looking every bit the rugged bad boy. His flannel shirt was rolled up at the sleeves. His chin and cheeks were covered with five o'clock shadow.

"Rayna Wyatt, this is Deacon Claybourne he's a damn good guitar player and he's agreed to stand in for you tonight. Deacon Claybourne this is Rayna Wyatt the singer I was telling you about." Watty introduced them.

Rayna offered him her tiny hand. She tried to keep her nerves out of her voice. His deep blue eyes seemed to peer into her soul. "It's nice to meet you, Deacon."

"It's nice to meet you too, Rayna." Deacon shook her hand. The sparkle in her blue-green eyes hypnotized him.

The minute they touched a spark of electricity passed between them. Neither one of them wanted to let go of the other first.

Rayna couldn't help noting that his gruff voice clashed with his gentle touch. His hand was calloused and rough, but it wasn't hard. It was hard for her to explain.

Deacon was gone with one touch. The feel of her silky skin against his blue collar hand had him imagining all kinds of possibilities and only about half of them were pure.

Watty cleared his throat and brought them both back to reality. "You two might wanna get to work on her set you don't have that much time."

"Of course, Wat. I've got her covered." Deacon finally released her hand and looked away from her.

"I'll leave you to it then. Rayna, you're in good hands." Watty excused himself.

Rayna smoothed down her dress self-consciously. Something about this boy made her feel like she was coming undone inside. "So, where did you wanna start?" She asked somewhat awkwardly.

Deacon opened up his guitar case and sat down on the couch. He patted the space next to him. "Have a seat and show me your set list. You tell me how you want it to sound and I will make it happen."

"Just like that, huh?" Rayna pulled out the notebook that held the songs she was going to perform.

"Just like that. I'm pretty good at what I do." Deacon grinned at her.

Rayna looked down and blushed at the sight of his grin. It stirred up feelings in her that no boy had before. "Here's the first song." She said quickly hoping she did a good enough job of hiding her embarrassment.

Deacon's eyes twinkled. That blush was so damn adorable and she didn't even realize it. They'd only spoke a few words to each other and already she had him thinking words like adorable instead of sexy. He studied the song. "What were you thinking for that one?"

Rayna gave him the basic tune that she wanted.

Deacon was able to replicate that tune on his guitar. He was actually able to bring to life exactly what she wanted and it sounded better than it had in her head.

They ran through her whole set list that way. It was like they had been working together for years instead of minutes.

"So, when do you go on?" Deacon asked her.

"I drew one of the middle slots. Not first, but not last either." Rayna answered him.

"For a thing like this that's perfect. You don't wanna go first unless you've got somethin' that can really hook 'em and you don't wanna go last if you ain't got somethin' to make 'em forget about every other act they heard." Deacon laid some of his wisdom on her.

"So, what do you wanna do until then?" Rayna asked him. She felt like she could be bold with him and that would be ok.

"We could go out there and listen to the other acts." Deacon suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds really good." Rayna agreed with him.

They chose to sit a table in the back and listen to the other acts. They didn't really talk they would sneak a glance at each other every once in a while. Just before it was time for her to go on they headed to the back to get ready.

Rayna was edgy butterflies the size of large birds were flapping in her stomach. She shook her hands out and then clenched them into fists.

"If you get scared or nervous you look over at me I'll be right there. You can do this, you've got this." Deacon squeezed her hand and looked into her eyes. He could tell that she was on the verge of a panic attack.

Rayna just nodded her head.

"That ain't gonna cut it, darlin', say the words to me." Deacon was firm, but gentle with her.

"I can do this, I've got this." Rayna repeated. She took a deep breath and she felt her nerves settle down some.

"Damn right you can." Deacon smiled at her.

The minute Rayna stepped out on that stage all of the nerves melted away. It felt right like she was born for this moment. The even more incredible part came when she and Deacon preformed together. It was magic and art and poetry wrapped up in one. He knew just when to add his voice to make the vocals better and when to pull back and let her do her thing.

Several times their eyes met and they held each other's gazes for longer than was needed.

"Woohoo, Song Bird, that was amazing. Wow, even I doubt that I just introduced you two earlier that sounded natural. It was like you two have been doing that together forever." Watty praised her.

"Thank you so much, Watty." Rayna put her hand to her chest.

"Listen, I wanna talk to you some more before you leave, but now my duty calls. You behave yourself and find me if you need anything at all." Watty gave her a quick hug.

"So, did you wanna listen to a few more of these acts with me?" Deacon asked her after he'd put his guitar away. If it were at all possible he wanted to spend more time with her. She intrigued him she was worth more than one night of study before stumbling out of her life the next morning. She made him want to stick around.

"Really?" Rayna heard how much she sounded like an overly eager little girl who a popular boy had shown a little bit of interest in. "I mean if you want to I don't have anywhere else to be."

"Yeah let's go sit. I need to know more 'bout you. You have some serious talent and that's no lie." Deacon offered her his arm.

"Thank you. You play that guitar just about better than anyone I've ever heard." Rayna took his arm.

Deacon pulled her chair out for her and then sat down across from her. He took a pen out of his shirt pocket and started writing on a cocktail napkin. "So, where did you learn to sing like that?"

"I guess it's just always somethin' that's been in me. I share a love of music with my momma." Rayna opened up to him.

"You're damn good at it." Deacon looked up at her while still writing on the napkin.

"What about you? Where did you learn to play guitar like that?" Rayna asked him.

"Some of it my pawpaw taught me and some of it I taught myself." Deacon answered her. He didn't go into any more detail than that. He didn't like talking about his past.

"The only thing my pawpaw taught me was how to fetch his drinks and how to shoot a gun. If you can't tell he was in hopes of havin' a grandson." Rayna mused.

"That's a skill set anyway. If this was the old west. Those two things were pretty much engrained in me. You don't come from where I do without learnin' those things early." Deacon cracked a smile.

"Where are you from, Deacon Claybourne? That accent is definitely not from around here." Rayna smiled back at him.

"Natchez Mississippi. You're either born tryin' to get outta there or you belong to the damn river." Deacon snorted.

Rayna looked down at what he was writing on that napkin. "What are you workin' on there?"

"A song 'bout what I see when I look at you." Deacon pushed the napkin over to her.

"A life that's good." Rayna blushed. She'd had boys to pursue before, but never one who had been so forward.

"With you I don't see how life can be any other way." Deacon reached over and put his hand on top of hers.

"You don't know who I am do you? If you did you would not be makin' comments like that." Rayna gave him a skeptical look. Boys tended to toe the line with her to impress her father.

"I know that you're Lamar Wyatt's baby girl. I just don't give a damn. I'd have to be half dead to not recognize the name it's only on half the buildings 'round here. You ain't your daddy and I ain't mine." Deacon arched his eyebrow and smirked.

Rayna's heart fluttered in her chest. Normally when boys figured out who her father was they either ran the other way or tried to use her to get into his good graces. "I've never met a boy like you before and it only makes me wanna know more about you."

"If you wanna know more 'bout me you're just gonna have to see me again." Deacon leaned over the table and got into her personal space.

In any other circumstance Rayna would have found his forwardness uncomfortable, but it only made her want to spend more time with him. There was just enough of a bad boy in him to attract her to him like a magnet. "My daddy would have a heart attack. I don't recall ever seeing his hands look as dirty as yours a day in his life. You have a workin' man's hands."

Deacon looked down at his hands. His nail beds had a crust of oil around him from one of the many odd jobs he'd taken to keep himself afloat. "Well, it was worth a try. You never know a workin' man's hands could teach some interestin' things." He leaned even closer to her.

"I just said my daddy would have a heart attack not that I don't wanna see you again." Rayna leaned into him instead of shying away. She felt like she'd known him for a million years and she was comfortable with him.

Watty walked over to the table to talk to Rayna. He saw how close she was to Deacon and he sighed. She was most definitely her mother's daughter when it came to her taste in men. She came from a world she was unsuited for, but she didn't quite fit into the world she was meant for either. He figured he better break them apart before something happened to Lamar even more of a reason to hate him. "Song Bird, I just wanted to tell you again how great you did tonight."

Rayna reluctantly disengaged from Deacon to talk to Watty. "Thanks, Watty. I really owe you one for getting me this chance."

"I only got you the chance. You have the talent to back it up. If you want to do something like this again you better get going if you don't want your daddy to find out. He'd put a stop to this if he did." Watty gave her the hint that it was time to go.

Rayna stood up and hugged him. "Thank you so much for tonight, Watty. Let me know when I can do this again."

"You've got people talking. You will be hearing from me soon. Now, get outta here." Watty kissed her cheek.

"So, I guess you've gotta go." Deacon scrunched up his forehead.

"Yeah, I better get outta here. It's not a good idea to piss my daddy off too much. There's no sense in wavin' the red flag in front of his face if I can fly under the radar." Rayna nodded her head.

"Can I walk you to your car?" Deacon asked hopefully.

"I only thought you were never gonna ask." Rayna gave him a flirty smile. Or at least her best version of one. She was inexperienced when it came to boys. Boys in her world either didn't take interest in her or they only wanted one thing from her.

"Let's get you home then." Deacon offered her his arm again.

"I just have to get my guitar first." Rayna took his arm without hesitation.

"The guitar that you hold like you're not comfortable with it." Deacon teased her.

"My talents lie in other places." Rayna laughed.

Deacon closed his eyes. Her laugh was like a sweet song meant only for him. "It's a damn good thing."

They collected her guitar and then walked out to the parking lot.

Rayna put her guitar in the backseat of her Mustang convertible. It and the guitar were some of the only things she had left of her mother. She leaned up against her driver's side door. She knew that she needed to go, but she didn't want to leave him. "Well, I should be goin'. I wanna beat my daddy home. That way with a little bit of luck he will never know that I was out."

"Yeah, you should do that." Deacon threw all caution to the wind. He pulled her to him and kissed her full on the mouth.

Rayna pulled away from him breathing heavily. "What was that for?"

"Incentive for you to see me again. And I will be seein' you 'round, Rayna Wyatt." Deacon winked at her and walked away with a cocky strut.

Rayna's lips still tingled from the feel of his mouth on hers. She brought her hand up to her lips and smiled. "I'll be seein' you 'round, Deacon Claybourne." She whispered softly to herself. She watched his retreating form until she could no longer see him. She got in her car and drove away.

"So that was it? That was how he hooked you?" Maddie asked an amused look on her face.

"I hooked him just as much as he hooked me. That was how it happened though. I was not expecting him to kiss me. I have never had another man kiss me like that. I'd had other kisses before him, but that was the first time a boy had kissed and he knew what he was doin'. That kiss rocked my world. That boy was all I could think about. He was trouble in jeans and flannel. I knew it, but I just didn't give a damn. I wasn't gonna stay away from him." Rayna answered her.

"So you mean to tell me you do have some common sense when it comes to him?" Tandy clutched her chest like she was shocked.

"I do I just ignore it. He still makes me feel that way. I wake up every morning to those intense eyes staring into mine and I fall all over again. I'm fifty years old, so that man has been in my life by my side one way or the other for the last thirty-four years. When I don't know where to turn I turn to him." Rayna replied.

"I believe you're creeping up on fifty-one, little sister." Tandy corrected her.

"I know how old I am. I don't need you to remind me. I'm trying to tell a damn story here." Rayna gave her a dirty look.

"A story that involves you, a dirty guitar player, a crazy drummer, and a whole lotta booze." Tandy snorted.

"I drank my fair share of that booze it wasn't just the guitar player and the drummer. You're getting way ahead of things. I hadn't even met the drummer yet. Who I had a mutual dislike on sight with by the way. He thought I was some Belle Meade Princess that was gonna jerk Deacon around and play with his with his heart just to piss my daddy off. And I thought he was some lazy ass lay about that was only gonna drag Deacon down. In the end it turned out we were both right. If only for a little while." Rayna ran her hands over her face.

"You and Vince didn't like each other?" JC asked.

"Vince and I had very strong feelings of dislike for each other when we first met. I realize now that he was just protecting Deacon. We both did a lot of that. I protected them both. I came to love Vince like the brother I never had. Which is how you got your name by the way, James." Rayna teased him.

"Really? Cause I think my first name is missin' a letter for that to be true." JC made his eyebrows dance.

"Two things about that. One Vince couldn't spell to save his life. Two I asked him not to so you didn't have to explain for your entire life that there's a Y in your name. You're welcome." Rayna winked at him.

"You didn't feel that way when it came to Jayme though. Also I'm pretty sure it's not normal for a mother-in-law and a son-in-law to like each other as much as you two do." Maddie pointed out.

"I did not name Jayme I named Deac. And I love that boy. He is good to you and for you. As your mother I can't ask for anything more than that. One day you will understand exactly what I'm talking about." Rayna patted her knee.

"It probably also helps that he makes her a lot of money." Tandy didn't help matters any at all.

"Thank you for that, Tandy. That's why you like him." Rayna rolled her eyes at her sister.

A nurse walked into the room. "Mrs. Claybourne,"

Rayna stood up. "What is it?"

"Dr. Hutchins wanted me to tell you that he just took your husband back to the OR and he will keep you posted. If you need anything at all don't hesitate to ask." She smiled at her.

"Thank you, so much." Rayna smiled back politely.

"It's no problem at all." The nurse replied.

"Now, we wait." Rayna covered her face with her hands.

Rhett held out his hand to her. "Take my hand, Ray."

"What are you doing?" Rayna held his hand.

"You'll see." Rhett offered his other hand to Maddie.

"Is this the thing that you do?" Maddie asked him.

"My great grandfather was a Baptist minister let's see if a little of that didn't rub off on me." Rhett bowed his head and closed his eyes. "Dear heavenly father, we ask that you watch over my brother give him the strength to endure this surgery and grant him a speedy recovery. Dear lord, we all depend on him more than he realizes and that's why he doesn't take care of himself. He's too busy takin' care of all of us. What I'm tryin' to say is we all need him and if you could see fit to let him make it through this we'd be eternally grateful. In your name we pray, amen."

"Amen," Everyone else in the room answered in a chorus.

"That was pretty good for someone who has the impressive profane vocabulary that you do." Sadie praised him.

"I did learn a thing or two all those Sundays my momma made me sit through church." Rhett shrugged his shoulders.

"Ok, talkin' keeps me from goin' crazy. Who wants to hear 'bout the next time Deacon and I saw each other?" Rayna sank back into her chair.

"Darlin', you just go on and tell us." June squeezed her shoulder.

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm giving you guys another double update. Until next time please review.