Chapter 1:

"Mom is dad picking us up from school today?" Daphne asked excitedly from the back seat.

"He said he was," Rayna replied preoccupied with the traffic ahead of her.

"And we get to go to the Ryman tonight, right?" Maddie added.

"Yeah baby."

"Oh my god, I can't wait!" Maddie exclaimed.

"Ah that's sweet baby, still excited to see you momma playing the Opry." Rayna looked back and smiled at her daughter.

"Come on mom, Juliette Barnes is going to be there!" she screeched excitedly, knocking Rayna down a few pegs.

Rayna rolled her eyes, dropping her sunglasses into place. She was sick of hearing about Juliette Barnes and her latest tour, the single burring up the charts, her clothes and who she was rumored to be dating. Most especially she hated to hear about that. People couldn't resist bringing it up. Though they would say it was only 'in good fun', they would still say it. The idea that anyone was replacing her made her stomach crawl but to have her girls with stars in their eyes every time Juliette's name was mentioned, made her absolutely sick.

"Mom turn it up, its Juliette's new song!" they shouted as they began to sing along to Boys and Buses.

Rayna quickly turned off the radio much to the girl's dismay. "Sorry girls, momma's got a headache".

Playing at the Ryman always gave Rayna a high, especially on nights like tonight, when the crowd was into it and so many of Country's music's heavy hitters where in the building. When she got back to her dressing room it was filled. Her manager Bucky, her label head Marshall, the producer of her latest album, her PR and tour head. She was excited to get back on the road and promote he latest album and was hoping having all these men present meant that they were as well. Maybe they were here to deliver the news that the tour was already sold out. That would absolutely cap a perfect Ryman night.

What she wasn't expecting was that Juliette Barnes would show up in her dressing room, a chip on her shoulder. She assumed she was there to kiss the ring, so to speak, and she was planning to be every bit the gracious Queen of Country she had become. Unfortunately, Juliette didn't get the message and hit her with one backhanded compliment after another. "My momma told me she used to listen to you when I was still inside her belly." 'Ouch' she thought as she plastered a smile on her face instead of ripping her little blond hair out. It wasn't until Juliette exited the dressing room that Rayna even noticed Deacon standing against the doorframe a smug smile on his face. However, she didn't miss the way Juliette's hand drifted across his chest as she left.

"What the hell was that, did she just imply that I was old?" she asked directing it at no one in particular, but looking at Deacon.

"I don't think she was implying anything," Deacon said laughing.

"Well that's interesting because she seems awfully interested in you, and last time I checked you had a few years on me," she smiled at him not so sweetly. Deacon took her comments in stride reaching over to shut the door.

"Marshall, Bucky, Watty," he said walking over to give Watty a hug.

"Deacon, thanks for joining us," Marshall added.

"Alright y'all what's going on?" If they had invited Deacon to this meeting, then something was up. It was Bucky who walked through the details. The album sales weren't looking good and the truth was that the tour was looking even worse. Pre-sales for the tour were at the lowest they have ever been for her and the label was pulling out the marketing and PR support they had originally allocated. "Wait a minute, you want me to co-headline with Juliette Barnes? Are you all crazy?" she asked incredulously.

"Told you she wouldn't go for it," Deacon said smirking as Rayna was shooting daggers at him with her eyes.

"Ray, you told me you needed this tour and the guys are all rehearsed, this is a good solution. Would you rather play to half empty arena every night?" Bucky asked.

"Who goes on first?"

"You would alternate," Marshall answered.

"Y'all are out of your minds if you think I worked this hard in my career to open for Juliette Barnes."

"It's about the music Ray," Deacon said trying to pacify her a bit.

"Is that what you have to tell yourself every night to get through a set with her?" she spat at him.

"On that note, I will let you all get on with it. Rayna, after you're done throwing your tantrum, come find me and we will talk about how you want to handle this tour," he said as he walked out the door.

She hated the way he knew her, how he could read the situation. She needed this tour to work out for her. She also had a lot of people depending on her, the band, the crew, she couldn't just call it off because her ego was hurt, maybe that was something other big-name artists would do but not her. Though, it was tempting to give some excuse about exhaustion and wanting to spend more time with her girls. Now she had to go deal with Deacon and she really didn't want to have this conversation with him, not after the embarrassing episode in her dressing room.

She found Deacon with the girls, down the hallway, talking to some of her band members. She smiled as she watched the girls excitedly relay something to them. She couldn't hear what they were saying but the guys all seemed to be tickled by the story, giving each other looks and trying not to laugh outright.

"Hey y'all, how was I?"

"Mom, we met Juliette!" Daphne yelled launching herself into her mother's arms.

"Your mom met her too," Deacon added, his laughter bubbling up. "Was it as good for you as it was for the girls Ray?" The guys in her band couldn't contain it anymore, they all started laughing. It was not a secret that Rayan couldn't stand Juliette and her music, and it was serious insult to injury that Deacon of all people was leading the band on her most recent tour.

"I am pretty sure it wasn't as good as it was for you when you met her. Can you we have a minute guys?" The men from the band disbursed, the drummer slapping Deacon on the back as a sign of solidarity. Even though Deacon was no longer their band leader all the guys still saw him as a part of the family. "Can we talk?" she asked Deacon.

"No mom, we were going to go out for ice cream." Daphne complained.

"It will only take a minute then you can go get all the ice cream your heart desires. Go hang out with Uncle Bucky for a minute," she said motioning behind her to her manager. The girls reluctantly went to stand with Bucky while Rayan lead Deacon back to her dressing room.

"What the hell was that about?" she asked but he just looked at her blankly. "Y'all ganging up on me? And since when are you consulted on my career?"

"Calm down Rayna. The tour thing was all the label, Watty and Bucky thought it would help break the news if I was here. I told em it was a bad idea."

"Which part?" she asked as she flopped down on the couch. She dropped her head down into her hands in frustration, hating that her career was taking this downturn. "It was a great album."

"It was a good album," he corrected. "Any other time you may have gotten away with it but there are more options now for people, more ways to listen."

"Thanks Deacon, you always know how to make me feel better."

"I've always known how to be honest with you," he said matter-of-factly.

"And you're okay with us going on tour together, we haven't done that in seven years Deacon and what about the girls?" she was looking at him now, defeat all over her face.

"We'll do the same thing we always do. The girls will stay in school until June then we bring em out with us. The only difference is that we won't need to hand them off when we cross paths in random cities. It will be good for them to have both of us all summer."

Later that night the girls were ecstatic to learn that not only where they going to be spending their summer on the Juliette Barnes tour, but both their parents would be touring together. Daphne was too young, but Maddie still had memories from touring with her parents. She missed having them both together. Ever since her dad left her mom's band there was a distance between them that she hated. They didn't often spend time as a whole family and when they did there was always tension between her parents. They tried to hide it, but Maddie knew it was there. 'Maybe this tour will make it go away' she thought.

Rayna on the other hand was dreading the next six months. She hadn't toured with Deacon since Daphne was two and when he quit her band, she was sure they would never tour again. She didn't know how she was going to handle seeing him every day, having him there but not with her. They had weathered some awful storms together and seen each other through the best and the worse but for the last seven years they had practically been strangers, only spending time together when the girls were involved.

"Please God let us get through this," she prayed aloud before resigning herself to a restless night of sleep.