Rayna didn't remember the last time she'd taken a day off that hadn't been planned long in advance.

Deacon hadn't given her a choice in the matter that morning. He'd called Bucky to ask him to cancel everything for the day. Rayna still hadn't made up her mind about the tour, so Deacon thought she needed a day away from everything to clear her head and come to a proper decision.

Once the girls had left for school, they spent the morning at home, mostly lazing in bed, but after lunch, he grabbed her hand and said, "Let's get out of here."

They took the pickup and drove for over an hour to a beautiful lakeside property which had belonged to Virginia Wyatt's side of the family and was theirs now. Even though Rayna loved the place as much as her mom did, they didn't get the chance to go there as often as she wished they would. Deacon had brought a guitar, and they found a spot not too far from the water, spread a blanket out and spent the afternoon writing. It felt good being surrounded by nothing but nature. The place had a soothing effect on Rayna.

It appeared to feed her inspiration too as, over the course of a couple hours, they ended up with a full-fledged song. They were so happy with the result, it prompted Deacon to suggest Rayna should come to his gig at the Bluebird that night, and they should perform it.

"I wish, but we can't do that."

"Why not?"

"You know how it works when I want to debut new songs, it's a whole process."

"What about a little more spontaneity for once?"

She sighed as she lay back on the blanket, one foot crossed over the other. She squinted at the cloudless sky. "I know what you're trying to do."

He gave her his most innocent smile. "What am I trying to do?"

She threw him that look, the one that said she could read him like an open book. "I would love to do our tour, you know."

"Then let's do it."

It wasn't as simple. She was afraid it would be the end of her career as she knew it. She wasn't sure if she would ever get the opportunity to do arena tours again after that. Maybe swallowing her pride and touring with Juliette Barnes, no matter how miserable she would be, was a sacrifice worth making.

She closed her eyes. It wasn't often she was feeling so torn.

After a while, she sat back up. She needed to stop mulling over it, it wasn't going to help. She looked around and grinned when one particular memory came back to her. "Remember the first time I brought you here?" she asked.

"It does vaguely ring a bell," Deacon joshed.

"Vaguely? Then I think we should refresh your memory," she announced as, on the spur of the moment, she started to undress.

"Are you... serious?"

Her smile was worth a thousand words. "Weren't you just talking about being more spontaneous?" Before he'd had time to react, she was fully naked and sprinting to the lake. When she got to the water, she stopped and turned around. "What are you waiting for?" she shouted, amused.

No sooner said than done, he stripped down and ran down to join her.

—

The room was as packed as it always was for Deacon's monthly set at the Bluebird. There were some familiar faces among a sea of new ones. What he loved about his gigs at the Bluebird was being able to chat with people afterwards, hear about how his music impacted them, how they connected with his lyrics, with his stories. People often asked about Rayna, too, but he didn't mind. In fact, he loved talking about her.

That night, she was sitting at the bar, in the back, next to Watty. They'd called him earlier to tell him he might want to drop by.

"A little surprise," Deacon announced once he got to the end of his normal set. "There's someone here tonight you might have recognized," he joked. "She's going to come up here and do a song with me. Please put your hands together for Rayna Jaymes!"

The audience erupted in applause as Rayna made her way to the stage. She thanked Gunnar who'd just pulled up a chair for her before she gave Deacon a quick kiss and sat down next to him. "Oh, my goodness, it's always great to be at the Bluebird," she addressed the crowd.

They bantered for a while until Deacon introduced the song. "This is a new one we wrote, well, a few hours ago. We couldn't wait to share it with you."

"It's true."

"It's called Shotgun. We hope you'll like it as much as we do." He turned to his wife and counted off, "One, two, three."

As soon as they started singing, the whole room stilled. Even Scarlett unconsciously stopped in her tracks, her tray in hand with two glasses on it waiting to be served.

It's a hard road honey
And there ain't nobody I'd rather be next to

Halfway through the song was when it happened for Rayna. Something switched in her. Why was she even hesitating about the tour? This was what she loved. Moments like this were the reason she'd started making music.

My heart was yours
When you walked in

Her heart had been Deacon's since, twenty-five years ago, he had walked into this place, written a song on a napkin and forever changed her life.

And when we're old
I'll take your hand
And ask you then, when did you know, tell me again

As the last notes echoed in the room, the audience started to cheer and clap. Rayna grabbed Deacon's hand. "You know what? Let's do it," she said.

His smile grew wider. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah. I don't know what I was afraid of, but it's gone. Let's do this tour, babe."

—

The girls kept chatting and giggling in the backseat the whole drive to the talent show. They'd been excited about it all week, debating what they were going to wear and rehearsing their song every day.

While stopped at a traffic light, Deacon looked over at Rayna in the passenger seat and whispered, "I'm going to miss them like hell."

"I know, babe, me too."

They wanted to let the girls finish the school year, so it'd been decided Maddie and Daphne would stay with Tandy for the first run of the tour. It wasn't ideal, but it was what was best for their daughters at the moment.

When they arrived, Scarlett and Tandy were already there, waiting in the bustling hall. They all hugged, and the adults tried to pass on advice to the girls on how to overcome stage fright. Not that they needed any. They'd practically been raised on a stage.

Daphne was insisting it was time to go backstage when a familiar voice echoed from down the hall. "Hey, girls!"

Lamar was standing there, one bouquet in each hand. Maddie and Daphne rushed towards him. "Grandpa!" He gave them the flowers while he wished them good luck.

Rayna and Deacon exchanged a suspicious look before she called the girls back, "Alright, you two, time to go backstage." She turned to Deacon. "I'll catch up with you." He nodded as he, Maddie, Daphne, Tandy and Scarlett all left the hall. Rayna walked up to her dad. "I don't want you here."

Lamar scoffed. "Well, that's not the warmest of greetings, but it is better than usual."

They hadn't talked since he'd sent the check, but it was how it worked with him. Her dad would do something awful, then he would come back as if nothing had happened. Often, she'd been tempted to cut ties with him completely. The girls loved him, though, and he was the only grandfather they knew. And despite everything, he was her dad. Family was complicated. Both she and Deacon knew something about that.

"Why are you here?"

"I didn't know I needed your permission to see my granddaughters."

"You do. They are my daughters."

"It's a little hypocritical of you to get on your high horse now. I heard you're thinking about leaving your daughters with Tandy."

"How does it concern you?"

"I don't think it's a good idea. The girls are at the age where they need their mother. You better than anyone should know about that."

It took Rayna considerable restraint not to start screaming in anger.

How.

Dared.

He.

As soon as her mom had died, he'd disappeared. He'd been off on some business trip, or he'd been overseas, anywhere but at home. He'd been absent except for being just furious at her for the choices she'd made, for the road she'd gone down.

She was done.

"Go home. Go to hell. But don't you stay here."

—

"Are we going to talk about it or are we going to keep drinking?" Tandy asked.

Rayna stared at the empty bottle of red wine and sighed. She could have used another glass, but she lacked the energy to get up from her patio chair and walk all the way from the far end of the pool to the kitchen.

Sensing Rayna would need to chat, Tandy had come back to the house with them after the talent show. So far, however, they'd done a lot of drinking, but very little talking.

"Things are not going to get back to normal this time, Tandy."

"Come on, you know how it is with Dad."

"Well, this is my point. It's always like that. And I'm just tired of trying."

Tandy stared down, her fingers playing with her necklace. "You know, there's something that might explain why he acts with you the way he does. Something I've never told you about."

This caught Rayna's full attention. "What are you talking about?"

"I think it's because of music... and because of Mom."

"Why because of Mom?"

"Mom had a friend. A singer-songwriter friend."

"You mean like... an affair?" Rayna wasn't sure why she'd just whispered.

"Uh... It was more than an affair. They were together for years. They were together right up until the time she died."

"How do you know this?"

"I read some letters after she died."

Rayna was dumbfounded. "How... How could you not have ever told me this?"

"Cause I didn't wanna hurt your memory of Mom. But your career and all of this... it just... I think it pushes a button in him."

—

Rayna used to hate these industry parties. With time, she'd learned to relax and make the most of them, but Deacon still remembered how, back in the day, she was so nervous she would make him quiz her on who's who.

Deacon, for his part, still wasn't a fan of these events. He'd resigned himself to the fact it was one of those things he had to go through in order to keep doing what he loved, namely writing and playing music. There was always a moment during the evening, though, when he needed a break from all the excruciating small talk and the noise and the crowd, and that night was no different.

Rayna was in the middle of a conversation, a few feet away from him, when he gestured to the door to signify he needed some air. She smiled and nodded.

The hall was mostly empty, and he walked across it to the building's main entrance. Once outside, he stopped, put his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath. It felt good to have some peace and quiet.

As he glanced around, he spotted two women standing on the sidewalk a few steps to his left, seemingly waiting on a car. One of them was Juliette Barnes, and the other, he'd learned that night, was her mother Jolene. She'd introduced herself to him earlier in the evening. She'd told him how, a long time ago, she used to go down to the Whistle Stop and watch him play in Murfreesboro. They'd talked for a few minutes about the past, about her love for Rayna and how she used to listen to her when she was pregnant with Juliette. She'd seemed fine then. Now, it looked like she had trouble standing. Juliette had one arm around her waist, supporting her.

Deacon walked in their direction. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

Juliette turned her head at the sound of his voice. He noticed she hesitated for a second when she saw who he was. "Yes, she's okay, it's probably... the sushis or something," she lied. Jolene mumbled something Deacon didn't get.

"Do you need—"

"We'll be fine," Juliette cut him off. "My driver will be here in a minute to take her home."

That's when Jolene slipped from Juliette's grip. Deacon caught her just before she hit the ground. "Woah, alright, I got you."

They helped Jolene back on her feet, and the three of them stayed there in silence. After a couple of awkward minutes, Deacon cleared his throat. "I'm Deacon Claybourne, by the way."

"I know who you are," Juliette huffed. She looked offended he would think she didn't. She waited before she added, "I'm Juliette Barnes."

He had to smile at that. "I definitely know who you are."

Deacon was about to ask Jolene how she was doing when a black SUV pulled up next to them. The driver got out to help Juliette install her mom in the backseat. "Thanks, Bo. Emily will be waiting at home to look after her."

Bo got back in the car, and Deacon and Juliette watched him drive away. Once the SUV had disappeared from view, Juliette breathed a sigh of relief.

"I need to get back to it," she said, pointing one finger at the building. She walked past Deacon, and as she was about to push the main door, she turned around. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He paused. "Listen, I used to have a... sushis... problem too. I know people, and I know a really good place. If you want, I could—"

"It'll be fine."

"Okay." He reached for his wallet and took a card out of it. "But here's my number. If you ever need it, don't hesitate to call."

—

TBC

A/N: You all NEED to listen to Sean McConnell & Audra Mae's version of "Shotgun" recorded live from Basement East. It's how I imagined Rayna & Deacon performing the song in this chapter.