july 1983
—
"I'm sorry, Mom."
Virginia was reading in bed, and she looked at Rayna standing in the doorway. "Why, honey? Come here," she waved her in. She threw her book on the comforter as her daughter settled besides her.
"Dad and you were fighting because I complained about having to go to summer camp." Her parents had always fought, for as long as she could remember, but lately it was even more frequent than usual.
"Were you listening?"
"Not on purpose, but... Tandy and I could hear some of it from upstairs." Her sister had tried to make her promise not to say anything to their mom, she believed they shouldn't interfere, that it would only make things worse. Rayna didn't agree.
"I'm the one who's sorry about that," Virginia apologized. "And it wasn't your fault."
"Are you going to get a divorce?"
"No, honey, we're not. Those were just words in the heat of the moment. You don't need to worry about that."
What came next from Rayna was not what Virginia expected. "You shouldn't have to stay together for us. We're not kids anymore."
She was stumped for a second, but she was quick to composed herself. "You think that's the only reason we stay together?"
"I just... hate seeing you this sad all the time."
Virginia took a long look at Rayna. She didn't need any paternity test to know who the father of her girl was. Her daughters were as close as they were different. Tandy already understood the privileges and responsibilities of being a Wyatt, she understood that what one wanted to do didn't always align with what one needed to do. Rayna, on the other hand, couldn't care less. She was resolute to pursue her dreams come hell or high water. Virginia had found a notebook in her daughter's room with lyrics and the name Rayna Jaymes written under them. When she'd later asked Rayna about it, her daughter had explained she would need a stage name for her future career.
"Honey, it won't last forever. I'll get through this, I promise." She forced a smile.
"Just... don't stay with Dad because you think you have to for us."
"It's all more complicated than that, Rayna." Her daughter looked like she was about to say something, but she changed her mind, so Virginia used the opportunity to redirect the conversation. "About summer camp... If you don't want to go, I won't force you. But I think it would be good for you if you did." She paused for effect. "Oh, and did I mention there will be a talent show?"
"Alright," Rayna caved, and Virginia chuckled at the face her daughter made. Rayna could be stubborn. "I'll go." She put her head on Virginia's shoulder. "I love you, Mom."
"You have no idea, babe."
—
"I think it's a bad idea," Deacon commented.
He and Rayna were sitting on the dock with their feet dangling just above the water. They usually agreed not to talk about work when they were spending family time at the cabin, but it was their last day there, and when they would go back, Rayna would have to make a decision.
"Well, it's that or Highway 65 is dead." Rayna wasn't one to get overdramatic, so Deacon knew she wasn't exaggerating. She'd already suspected it the first time she'd met Edgehill's new label head, but since then, he'd made it even more clear he had no intention of supporting her vanity project as he called it. "Wouldn't it be great to be free?"
Of course Deacon loved the idea of Rayna buying herself and Highway 65 out of Edgehill. Of course he loved the idea of her being her own boss, of her not having to argue or plead or bargain with another label head ever again. What he was concerned about was the way to get there.
"You wouldn't be free," he said, "you would owe Lamar."
"He would invest in it, but I would make all the decisions for the label."
"Baby, I know you and Lamar have been getting along a whole lot better lately, but he's still... Lamar. He will meddle in. This is who he is. There's a reason we never took a cent from him."
"Things are different now." The irony wasn't lost on Rayna that what it had taken for her relationship with her father to get better was to learn that he was not her father. She was now persuaded that the way he'd acted with her since her mom had died was because he'd been afraid to lose her to Watty, so he'd always chosen to push her away first. But when the truth had finally come out, the opposite of what Lamar had feared all along had happened. "Listen, I'm not being naive about this. If we had more time, this is probably not the way I would go."
"I don't know, Ray."
"Aren't you the one who always says 'better the devil you know'?"
"Better no devil at all."
"I'm afraid it's not an option here."
Deacon sighed. He looked over at Maddie and Daphne who were canoeing on the lake. He could hear Maddie complain that Daphne was only pretending to row while she was the one doing all the actual work. He could tell Maddie was right as he'd noticed they'd been moving in circle for a little while. His daughter splashed some water at her younger sister, and he heard Daphne shriek and then both of them laugh. He smiled. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?" he asked.
"That's always been my motto. But, hey, listen. I want us both to be a hundred percent on board with this or I won't do it. If you really think it's a bad idea, I'll trust your judgement. You know that."
—
"He's getting really big."
"Tell me about it." Rayna was holding Sue's leash as she and Watty were walking on the park's trail. "If you were going to bring a dog home for the girls, couldn't it have been a Maltese or a Pomeranian?"
"I'll keep that in mind for the next one."
"Hilarious," Rayna deadpanned, and Watty let out a quiet laugh.
Rayna knew he was kidding, but he'd been going a bit overboard with his gifts to Maddie and Daphne. She assumed he was trying to compensate for all the years he'd missed being their grandfather.
"Your mom used to say you wanted a Labrador when you were a kid."
She looked at him, surprised. "She'd told you that?" Maybe it wasn't the years being a grandfather he tried to catch up to after all.
"She was talking about you and Tandy all the time."
Rayna cleared her throat. "I know I've asked you this already, but I just need you to be honest. On the day we first met—"
"I had no idea you were going to be at that open mic, Rayna. None. I almost left, in fact, when I realized. But as soon as I heard you sing... I knew Virginia would have wanted me to help you. You got all her talent."
"And yours."
He smiled. "I don't know where you got those atrocious guitar skills, though, not from either of us."
"Hey!" Rayna protested in mock outrage.
"It didn't stop you from having a career that went beyond anyone's wildest expectations."
"Well, speaking of my career..." It was the reason she'd called Watty. She'd told him over the phone she had some big news. Some huge news, as a matter of fact. She was surprised he hadn't pressed her about it yet. "I'm going to buy myself and Highway 65 out of Edgehill."
Watty stopped in his tracks. "That's... some huge news indeed."
"I know." Rayna paused too, and Sue used the opportunity to start sniffing around the roots of a tree when he noticed his humans had stopped walking. "Highway 65 is a lifelong dream of mine, and I'll be damned if I'll let the new guy at Edgehill ruin it."
"How did you come up with the capital?" Watty asked. Rayna didn't answer, but he read it on her face. "Oh."
"You think it's a bad move?"
"I'm probably not the right person to ask," he said with an unintentional wince. "What does Deacon think of it?"
"He wasn't sure at first, but he's met Jeff Fordham since." Rayna had to laugh when she recalled that afternoon. Her husband was someone who had very little tolerance for bullshit, and Jeff was someone who was full of it. After the meeting, Deacon had kept silent all the way back to the truck, and only once they'd been inside, he'd turned toward her and asked, "How soon do you think Lamar could have the paperwork drawn up?"
Watty hesitated before he asked, "This is what you want?"
"This is the way to get where I want, yes."
From a selfish standpoint, he wished she'd found another way. But it wasn't about him. "Then it's what you should do ."
—
"Welcome to the future home of Highway 65! What do you think?" Rayna asked.
Tandy walked around the empty office space. "I think it's a great find. Light, spacious. And the location is ideal."
"Right? And I already have a pretty good idea of what I want this place to look like. But first thing first... which corner do you want for your office?"
Tandy smiled at that. "Remember when I told you should come work for Daddy so we would spend more time together?" she teased her sister.
Rayna gasped. "I am not going to work for Daddy, he's going to invest in my company, and you and I are only going to spend more time together because you agreed to be my CFO."
"Potayto, potahto."
"Nope, not at all, more like potayto, cucumber."
Tandy chuckled. "Alright," she relented, "I'm just messing with you. And I'm really happy we are finally going to work together."
"I know." Rayna hooked her arm around Tandy's. "Are you sure you're not going to regret it?"
"No, I really need... a change. I think the timing's right."
"There's someone else you're going to spend more time with while working here," Rayna noted, amused.
Tandy frowned. "Who?"
"Starts with a 'B', ends with 'ucky'."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, come on, do you think I didn't see you two at our anniversary?"
"I don't know what you saw, but it's not what you think."
"You're not fooling anyone, honey."
"See, now I start to regret having agreed to work with you."
Rayna chuckled. "No, you don't. But alright, if you don't want to talk about it, we won't talk about it."
"Thank you."
Since her divorce, Tandy was always very secretive about her relationships. She'd made it clear to Rayna she had no intention of ever marrying again. She was fine with her love life the way it was.
"I'll badger Bucky about it instead," Rayna joked.
"You can always try."
"You're no fun."
"You'll find me even less fun when I'll start yelling at you about balancing your books."
Rayna smiled and looked around, happy. "I can't wait."
—
TBC
A/N: Never mind. Going through a bit of a self-doubt phase.