Chapter 20:
All the lights in the Wyatt house were on and the house was practically shacking from the raised voices tossing accusations at on another. It was just after six in the evening when Tandy sat Rayna down to break the bad news. It seemed that Lamar had gotten word from some back channels that the Feds were close to making a case against Lamar Wyatt Enterprises as well as Lamar himself. While Rayna wasn't exactly shocked, it was Tandy's omission that the she knew about the case and she had left the company not just to join Rayna but also to avoid legal complications herself. Less than an hour later Rayna was standing in the library of her childhood home, alternating between screaming at her father and her sister. It was about thirty minutes in that the staff called Coleman to come and calm things down and ten minutes after that when Coleman called Deacon to come and get Rayna.
Coleman's appearance was reassuring while Deacon's was less than welcomed, at least where Lamar and Tandy were concerned. Coleman had been a close family friend since childhood when Lamar had taken him under his wing. He grew up more of a brother to Rayan and Tandy. He was the mayor of Nashville, a recovering addict, Maddie's godfather, Deacon's sponsor and he and Rayna's best friend. He was just about the only person in Rayna's family who liked Deacon and rooted for he and Rayna.
"How could you do this to me? I put my whole life on the line for this label. It's my entire fortune, my catalogue, my house, everything!" Rayna shouted at both her sister and father not sure who she blamed more.
"Sweetheart, I told you not to take daddy's money."
"I thought you meant because he would feel entitled to making decisions, not because he stole the money," Rayna shouted at her sister.
"It's not stolen!" Lamar defended.
"No daddy? Then why are you under federal investigation?"
"It's a fishing expedition, my lawyers will prove my innocence." At that Deacon snorted unable to hold back. "What are you even doing here, this is a family matter and the last time I checked you weren't family. While my daughter may have made a mistake in having children with you, she was smart enough not to marry you. Life would have been a lot better if Maddie would have turned out to be Conrad's kid."
"Don't you dare!" Rayna warned leaning towards her father. Those months before Maddie was born and her paternity was up in the air were some of the hardest in Rayna's life and she resented her father throwing it in her and Deacon's faces. "I am going to lose everything because of you, not Deacon!" she said screaming before turning and collapsing in Deacon's arms.
"Sweetheart, we are not going to let you lose anything." Tandy said trying to calm the situation.
"Tandy's right Rayna, you just need to buy your father out before the Feds present their case. Then it's not on the books as an investment but rather a short-term loan," Coleman finished.
Rayna turned rage in her eyes, "Okay Cole and where am I getting twenty million dollars in a few days' notice? The label is barely on its feet."
"Darling, I'll call Teddy over at the credit union, he owes…"
"Lamar, I don't think that's a good idea." Coleman warned.
"Why not?" Lamar demanded.
"The River Front investment project is getting a lot of attention. Things aren't looking good for Teddy right now and having him be involved may do more harm than good," Coleman finished.
"I knew he was no good," Deacon muttered under his breath. Rayna looked up at him warningly, letting him know this was not the time to pick at that scab.
"Cole, I've already put as much as I can into the label, what about you and Audrey?" Tandy asked.
"We just bought the new house and with John at Vanderbilt next year there isn't that much left. I can talk to Audrey maybe if we tap into our retirement."
"No Cole, I am not going to let you do that. This is daddy's mess and I'm not going to let you clean it up for him."
"How much do you need right now? I mean the label has some money right, what are we talking about here a ten million? Five million? Deacon asked.
Lamar laughed at Deacon taking a drink of his scotch. "What are you going to do boy, you've been living off Rayna for years, are you finally going to pay this family back for all that we've done for you? Maybe you can get a hundred dollars for that piece of garbage in the driveway."
Deacon folded his hands into fists at his side. He hated when Lamar talked down to him like he was a piece of trash his stepped in with his fancy shoes. "Maybe I am." Deacon said eyeing Lamar.
"Come on Deacon, you have five million dollars laying around?" Tandy asked amused.
"Well, I don't have it under the mattress but yeah I do. I'll have to call my accountant to see how much I can get and how fast." If the situation wasn't so dire Deacon would have laughed. Everyone was staring at him, jaws on the ground.
"Babe?" Rayna asked.
"What? Come on Ray, you get those royalty checks just as often as I do, and I don't have a closet full of six hundred-dollar heels." Rayna kept staring at him amazed. He rolled his eyes and continued to explain. "After I found out about Maddie, Coleman hooked me up with a friend of his that was an investor."
"Tom?" Coleman asked.
"Yeah, he put a lot of it into tech stock or something and it's doing pretty good," he finished shrugging like it was no big deal but inside he was jumping around like a little kid waking up on Christmas morning to find he got everything he wanted. He had dreamed about this moment. The moment he could stand up to Lamar Wyatt and prove that he was wrong about him all these years.
"Babe I can't, that's yours." Rayna started.
"Ray, what's that you're always saying, there would be no Rayna James without Deacon Claybourne so let me do this. Besides this isn't just about you, it's about the girls, it's just me taking care of my family." Rayan nodded her head and pulled him into a hug. He pulled away and kissed her on her forehead. "Let me make a few calls" he said before walking out of the room.
"Well I'll be damned," Lamar said dumbfounded. "Didn't think he had it in him."
"Well, I guess you were wrong," Coleman said with a smile.
Rayan straightened her back and squared her shoulders. She turned to her sister and father, and in a calm voice she said, "From here on out I want you both to stay the hell out of my life." Tandy looked visibly shaken with tears in her eyes.
"You can't just cut us out" Lamar bellowed.
"As far as I'm concerned, you died the night my mother died" she said before turning to go find Deacon.
A couple hours later Deacon and Rayna were walking across the bridge overlooking the Cumberland River. Rayan was still dazed from the confrontation at her father's. After she walked out of the study, she found Deacon who was hanging up his phone. He told her that he called his accountant, his lawyer and Bucky and that they would all meet at Highway 65 the next day to sign the paperwork and Lamar would have his money back by the end of the week. She smiled weakly and asked him to get her the hell out of there.
She was so upset that Deacon didn't want to take her home to the girls, worried they would ask too many questions, instead he took her to the bridge, their bridge. It had always been a refuge for them, a place to talk and clear their heads.
"Deacon are you sure you want to do this? I mean it's a lot of money and I don't want you to feel like you have to."
Deacon stopped, he looked down at her and moved a piece of hair off her face behind her ear. "Baby, I want to do this. Remember the other night at my place, you said that we had the girls and we had the label. Do you know what that meant to me to hear you say that? I've been waiting fifteen years to hear you include me like that again in your life. It's not my money Ray, it ours, everything I ever had, anything I will ever have will be yours, it always has been. You shared all the pain, all the broken promises, the anger, now I'm just glad you get to share the good things, the things you deserve."
"Deacon, the only thing I ever wanted to share was our love" she whispered leaning her forehead against his.
"Well, now you have my love and five million dollars," he said laughing before kissing her head.
"This isn't funny Deacon, you worked hard for that, I know how much it means to you to be able to have that money for the girls, for Scarlett, for your sister…"
"Come on Ray, I want to do this, for all those reasons and because I believe in you, in this label. You're a good investment Rayan James, I know that for sure. Hell, I've been betting on you most of my life," he finished smiling.
Rayna still wasn't convinced. While she did earn everything she had, it was different for her. She grew up not wanting or needing anything. When she did walk away from her families money, it was her choice, but Deacon didn't have that safety net, he struggled not just by his choices as an adult but by his circumstances as a kid. She also knew that he helped support his sister and niece as well as his mother when she was alive. When he finally got sober, he paid her back every penny she spent on rehab, lawyers and hospital bills. Now he was handing her everything he had earned, and she wouldn't take that lightly.
Deacon could see all those thoughts rolling around Rayna's head. He knew her and he knew exactly what she was thinking. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her close. "If you're really worried about it, I know how we can limit my…" he thought for a minute trying to find the right word. What was it his accountant said? "…exposure." He finished smiling down at her.
"Oh yeah, and how do we do that? I don't have anything else to leverage"
"I can think of one thing." Rayna looked up at him holding her breath wondering what he was going to ask of her. "How about your heart?"
"My heart?" she asked.
At that Deacon dropped to his knee holding onto her hand. "Rayna James, mother of my children, love of my life, my best friend, will you marry me?" Rayne just exhaled taken completely by surprise.
"Deacon…"
"Ray, I know, I know we screwed this thing up a million times but were not going to do that now. I was thinking about wedding vows the other night, to love, honor and cherish, for better or for worse, through sickness and health and I thought how we've already done that. We may have never taken the vows but Ray we have lived them for the past twenty-six years and I think maybe it's time we stand up and say those things out loud. I want to world to hear me take those vows, to hold me accountable for them and I know you asking me to make this album is your way of doing that, but do you think maybe you can make those vows too?
Rayna's eyes filled with tears, she exhaled a yes so softly, she wasn't sure she actually said it loud enough to hear. "Yes" she said again with much more conviction, "yes, I will marry you!". She knelt in front of him, kissing him with all the promises of a life together.