Rayna frowned slightly when she heard her phone ring. Reluctantly she turned on her other side and picked it up. She saw that it was Deacon and sighed. "Hey," she said. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. It's all good." He breathed out. "So I just wanted you to know she's asking questions about us. How we met, how I felt about you, that kind of stuff. I don't want to say the wrong thing."

Rayna sighed silently. She knew he was nervous, but this wasn't really a good time for this conversation. "Just be honest," she said, her voice flat.

Deacon frowned. "That's all? No words of wisdom?"

"Just say what you're comfortable with."

He felt a little annoyed, but pressed on. "I thought about what you said about being out in public, so Scarlett's going to take her to school."

Rayna closed her eyes for a moment. She did feel a sense of relief about that. "Good. That's a good plan."

He wasn't sure, but he sensed she didn't really want to talk. "Um…"

"Is there anything else?" she asked.

He scowled. "No. That's all."

"Okay. Bye." And she hung up. She knew she'd been abrupt, but it had felt so awkward talking to him right then. She laid there a moment, then turned back to Luke's questioning eyes.

"Everything ok?" he asked.

She smiled, her performance smile. "Yeah. How come dads always need help?" she asked teasingly.

Luke chuckled and reached for her. "We just always have our minds focused on other…more pleasant things," he said, sliding his hand down to show her what those more pleasant things were.

She moaned at his touch, letting him distract her, hoping it would make her stop thinking about the fact that she had just talked to Deacon while she lay naked in bed with Luke. And that it would wipe away that other brief recollection of answering a phone call from Maddie right after making love to Deacon.

Deacon frowned at the phone. He got the distinct impression Rayna didn't want to talk to him. Things had actually seemed to be going better with them lately, it wasn't so uncomfortable, but she'd practically hung up on him just then. It occurred to him that she was with Luke, something he tried not to think about.

So he scrolled down and found Megan's number. "Hey, you," came her low voice, sounding happy to hear from him.

"Hey," he said with a smile.

"How's everything going? Is Maddie all settled in?"

"Yeah." He cleared his throat. "Yeah, she is. It's good so far. It's good having her here."

"That's great. I know she's going to enjoy it. And you'll be great."

"Thanks." He ran his hand over his mouth. "So I know we talked about you meeting her. What about Saturday night? Dinner."

"That sounds lovely. Do you want to come here and I'll cook?"

He thought about that. It would help from the public aspect, but he was a little put out by Rayna's side of their conversation, so he said, "No. Let's go out somewhere. No place fancy. I'll ask Maddie what she'd like."

"That sounds great. Just let me know where."

Deacon smiled to himself. "Megan? Thanks. For being understanding about her being here and you…not."

"It's perfectly okay. It would be too much for right now. She needs to get used to you and your relationship. There's no hurry on anything else." She paused. "I know you said it was her idea for us to meet, but thank you for agreeing to it. It means a lot to me."

"I know," he said. "You mean a lot to me."

"I'm glad. I'll see you Saturday then."

"Yeah." He disconnected, then sat there for a moment. He took a deep breath and rubbed his face with his hands. He felt out of sorts between the two conversations. He didn't know how he was going to manage this changed relationship with Rayna. And he felt like she was fighting his whole relationship with Maddie, even while she was helping to move it along. It was as though their past, their whole past, made everything too painful to face.

And then there was Megan – so supportive and positive and…healthy. The whole relationship was built on a lack of the drama and angst and highs and lows he'd had with Rayna. He was happy – he'd told her that – and he was. But something was missing. And he didn't want it to be the past.

Scarlett was sitting on the couch, her legs curled up under her, writing in her journal. When Deacon came in, she closed the notebook and smiled up at him. "She okay?" she asked.

Deacon nodded his head and sat on the other end of the couch. "Yeah, she's good." He looked away and ran his hand over his mouth. "Rayna's been all worried about people seeing me and Maddie and asking questions, so I wanted to ask a favor."

"Sure. What is it?"

"Well, would you be willing to get up and drive her to school?" He looked at her and hurriedly said, "I know I'm imposing and everything, but…"

"It's okay," she interrupted him. "I understand and I don't mind. I actually need to stop by and see Rayna anyway in the morning before I head to the studio."

"Thanks." He leaned back and covered his face with his hands. "I hope I'm doing all this right."

Scarlett laughed. "Of course you are, silly. I think Maddie's having a good time so far. And you know, she tried avocado for you."

Deacon looked at her. "For me?"

"Sure. She's trying to see how you two fit. She knows how she fits with her mama. Now she needs to know what came from you."

"Well, I hope she didn't get much from me. I'm not much of a role model."

"Stop it," she chided him. "You're a very caring, loyal person. She'd be lucky to get that from you. In addition to her talent."

"She gets some of that from Rayna," he reminded her.

"Yeah, but she has a musical talent she got from you." She smiled at him. "Just relax. She adores you. You don't have to try so hard."

Deacon nodded, appreciating her support. "Thanks for your help."

She waved him off. "I'm happy to. After all, she's my family too and I'm glad to get to know her better." She swung her legs around onto the floor and stood up. "I better get to bed so I can get up early." She smiled gaily at her uncle and headed upstairs.

Deacon started cracking eggs into a bowl. "Scarlett! Maddie! Breakfast!" he hollered. He heard a door open and close and someone hurry down the steps. Maddie came into the kitchen in her school uniform, with her book bag slung over her shoulder. He smiled. "Hey. Eggs and bacon. That okay?"

She smiled. "Yeah, that's great. All we ever get is cereal."

Deacon chuckled. "Yeah, your mama isn't much of a cook."

Maddie laughed and shook her head. "No, she's not." She hopped up on one of the stools.

Deacon poured the eggs in the skillet and started scrambling. He turned his head to look at Maddie. "I should probably fess up that I'm not much of a cook either. Eggs and bacon is probably my best dish."

Maddie laughed. "That's okay. Daphne and I are used to it by now. Eggs and bacon will be a treat."

Just then Scarlett bounced into the kitchen and took the stool next to Maddie's. "He makes the best eggs ever," she said to Maddie. She looked back at Deacon, who was now spooning eggs onto plates. "What time do I need to leave to get Maddie to school?"

Deacon saw Maddie's face fall and he felt bad now about his decision to have Scarlett take her. "About seven," he said, then focused on Maddie. "I'm sorry, Maddie, but I've got an appointment on this side of town and Scarlett's going by your mama's, so I asked her to drop you off."

Maddie gave him a small smile. "It's okay," she said and looked at Scarlett. "We can get to know each other better." She also thought she might be able to get more information about Deacon from her.

"Absolutely!" Scarlett said. When Maddie looked down at her plate, she glanced at her uncle. He looked sad as he breathed in. She caught his eye and mouthed "don't worry." But she knew he would think he'd messed this up. She would try to smooth it over.

When Maddie and Scarlett were ready to leave, Deacon wondered what a parent would normally do. He had certainly not had good role models with respect to how to be good parent. He knew he was probably overthinking everything, but he didn't want to mess things up. The good news for him was that Maddie took the lead. She reached in and gave him a hug and he hugged her back.

"Bye, Dad," she said. "See you later."

"Bye, Maddie. Have a good day at school." He walked them out and, watching Scarlett pull out, raised his hand in a wave. Maddie smiled and waved back and then they were gone.

After they'd gone a short ways, Maddie sighed. "Did Deacon not want to take me to school?" she asked.

Scarlett looked over and gave her an encouraging smile. "I really do have to meet with your mama, so it made sense." She paused. "But he doesn't want you to have to deal with people asking a lot of questions."

Maddie rolled her eyes. "I don't care about that."

"Well, maybe you don't, but Deacon doesn't want you to get hurt. He really loves you, Maddie, and he wants to do the right thing."

Maddie smiled shyly. "He really does love me?"

Scarlett was surprised that she would ask. "Of course he does. You're his little girl. He's so glad he's getting to spend time with you. But he wants everything to be perfect for you."

"It doesn't all have to be perfect," Maddie said softly.

Scarlett smiled. "Let him try, at least. It'll make him happy."

Maddie smiled broadly. "Okay. I can do that."

Scarlett looked over at Maddie and couldn't help thinking that she was going to enjoy seeing the two of them get to know each other as a father and daughter. Right now they were both trying so hard and it would be nice to see it become more natural for them both.

Maddie looked over at Scarlett. "Did you ever see my mom and dad together?"

Scarlett gave her a small smile. "Only a couple times. And I was really little so I don't remember a lot." She thought a minute. "I think the last time I saw them together I was maybe seven. Six or seven."

Maddie looked down. "What were they like?"

"Wow, let me think. I remember thinking your mama was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. And she was so sweet to me." Maddie looked up and smiled. Then Scarlett frowned a little. "I know my uncle Deacon was drinking back then, not because I was aware of it, but because I know that now. But he seemed really happy then. I know he loved your mama a lot and I do remember that every time he looked at her, he would smile. And they were always holding hands. Or kissing. Or both." She giggled.

Maddie sighed. "I wish I understood what happened. When I was born, I mean." She looked back at Scarlett. "Do they really not care about each other anymore?" she asked sadly.

Scarlett caught her breath. Her heart broke for Maddie. "I don't really know everything that's gone on," she said, "but I don't really think that's the case. But I do know they're both hurting, a lot. It may just take a while for them to get back to a good place." She frowned. "Just think about whether you really want to know what happened back then. I think it was all really painful and it might be painful for you too. I don't think either your mama or your daddy want you to be hurt."

Maddie considered that. "I guess," she said softly, and then turned her head to look out the side window the rest of the ride to school.

Maddie was reading in the library when Talia came up and plopped down next to her, tossing her book bag on the table. Maddie looked up. "Hey, Talia," she said.

"Hey, Mad. How's it going?"

Maddie shrugged. "Okay." She turned in her chair and looked at her friend. "I wonder if I'll ever know everything that went on with my parents."

Talia looked at her questioningly. "Which parents?"

"My real dad. And my mom. I kind of want to know what really happened, but my cousin…Scarlett…she kind of scared me."

"Scared you how?"

"She said I might not want to know. Like it's something bad."

Talia sighed. "Maddie, there's always a lot of baggage in break-ups. And a lot of it is awful stuff. Maybe you don't want to know."

Maddie shook her head. "Talia, my real dad didn't even know about me. My mom never told him. Why would she do that? Why would she keep us apart?"

Talia grabbed Maddie's hand. "Mad, you told me your real dad was an alcoholic. You read the stories about him. That's gotta be it."

"I guess."

"Look, I know you wanna know everything. But I think your cousin might be right. There's some stuff you just don't wanna know."

Maddie thought about that. But she couldn't imagine what could be so bad. Just then the five-minute bell rang and she decided she'd have to think about it later. She and Talia got up and headed for their next class.

"How about pizza tonight?" Deacon suggested, as he and Maddie were putting away their guitars late that afternoon. Scarlett had a gig and wouldn't be home until very late.

Maddie smiled and nodded. "That sounds good."

"I'll order us something and pick it up. We could watch some movies tonight if you want."

"Okay."

"What kind of pizza do you like?"

Maddie shrugged. "I like most everything." She wrinkled her nose. "No anchovies though."

Deacon laughed. "Have you ever tried them?"

Maddie shook her head. "No, but I know they smell stinky, so they probably taste stinky. I'm not really a fan of stinky food."

Deacon grinned. "Not a fan, huh? Well, you're in luck, 'cause neither am I. How about hamburger and mushroom?"

"I love that. That's what Mom gets when we have pizza." She looked at him with a question in her eyes. "Did you used to get that when you were together?"

Deacon nodded. "She always ordered that. I never had mushrooms until then either." He was pensive for a moment, then stood up and clapped his hands together. "I'm gonna go order it." He walked into the kitchen to get the menu, leaving Maddie watching him, thinking more about him and her mom together.

When he got back with the pizza, Maddie helped with plates and napkins and root beers and they brought everything into the living room. When they had served themselves and sat back on the couch, Deacon picked up the remote. "Any particular movie you wanna see?"

Maddie took a deep breath. "Could we just talk?"

Deacon nodded his head and put down the remote. "Yeah. What do you want to talk about?"

Maddie took a bite of pizza and chewed it thoughtfully. Then she looked at Deacon and asked, "Can you tell me about your family?"

Deacon's eyes widened a bit and he took a deep breath. He wasn't really sure how much he wanted to tell her. "Well, I have a sister – Scarlett's mama – who is your aunt. Her name is Beth. She's about a year older than me. My parents are both dead."

"Where is Beth?"

"She lives in Mississippi. That's where Scarlett's from."

"Do you see her very often?"

Deacon shook his head. "I haven't seen her in a long time, unfortunately. She's got a pretty busy job, a lot going on." It made him feel bad that he hadn't seen his sister in so long. He rarely even talked to her on the phone. She never seemed to be around. Being together brought up a lot of the old childhood hurts though and he'd never really pushed it.

"And your parents?"

"Both dead. My father's been dead a long time. And my mom died a few years after that."

"Did Mom ever meet them?"

Deacon shook his head. "No, she didn't. My father died a year or so after I met her. We never went to see my mom. And then she died too."

"But she met your sister. And Scarlett."

Deacon smiled. "Yeah, she did. When Scarlett was a little girl. Your mama really loved her, right from the start."

"What was it like when you were growing up?"

Deacon took a deep breath. He remembered what Rayna said about only sharing what he was comfortable with. "I didn't have a great childhood like you did, Maddie," he said. "We didn't have a lot and we lived in the country and, truthfully, my father was a pretty mean man. Not a good father. Both Beth and I left home when we were teenagers."

"Is that when you came to Nashville?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I was sixteen. Came here with nothing but the clothes on my back and my guitar."

"So you were already playing back then?"

"I was. Even writing songs, although they weren't that good. I got better at that."

Maddie put her plate down and turned to face him. This was interesting. "Did you get to play when you got here?"

He chuckled. "Well, you know, around here there's always someplace to play. You don't even have to be very good to get a gig someplace. So yeah, I started playing different places around town as soon as I got here. I had to earn some money so I didn't have to live in my truck."

Maddie's eyes got big. "You lived in your truck?"

He nodded. "I did. For several months, until I had enough money to rent a room. Then I got a couple part time jobs and I made enough to get a small apartment, not too far from here."

"Did you always know you wanted to be a performer?"

"Not always. But when I got my first guitar, I really got the fever. I never thought I'd ever get to do it for a living, so I consider myself lucky that I have."

"When did you get your first guitar?"

"I'd help out on some of the farms around where I lived, picking crops or cleaning out barns, stuff like that. And I saved every dime I made. I bought a cheap guitar when I was thirteen and then I bought a used Fender when I was sixteen, not long before I came here. I still have that guitar, although I don't ever play it now. I've got better stuff. But that was the one I started with here in Nashville. I played the Bluebird with that guitar."

Maddie's eyes sparkled. "What was it like the first time you played at the Bluebird?"

Deacon sat back and smiled as he remembered. "I tried for so long to get an open mic spot and when I finally did, I was so nervous I thought I'd puke right there on the stage. But I got through it and people seemed to like me okay. I have to admit that I was secretly hoping someone would discover me there, but it took a while for that to happen." He smiled at Maddie. "The Bluebird is a special place. Even now, I get butterflies every time I play there."

"I'm glad I got to see you there."

"Well, all I did then was sing. You'll have to come back, now that I can play the guitar better."

"Maybe I could play there with you sometime."

Deacon smiled. "I would love that, Maddie."

Maddie frowned then. "It'll be a long time before Mom will let me do something like that."

"She let you do that open mic at Two Old Hippies."

She rolled her eyes. "That was for kids. I want to do a real gig. Like at the Bluebird."

"We'll do that sometime. I promise."

"Soon?"

Deacon took a deep breath. "Well, I don't know about soon…"

Maddie rolled her eyes with annoyance. "I told Mom I'm not going to lie about you being my dad. I'm tired of acting like you're just my 'Uncle Deacon'."

Deacon rubbed his face. He and Rayna had never talked specifically about keeping this quiet, but he had to admit that he kind of understood where Maddie was coming from. There was a part of him that didn't like the secrecy and caring about whether anyone saw him with Maddie and wondered about that. But he knew that the truth would hurt Rayna more than him, professionally, and there were things he didn't necessarily want Maddie to know, like the fact that he couldn't remember being with Rayna when she was conceived. He leaned forward and looked at Maddie. "It's not so simple, Maddie. But I want you to know that I am proud you are my daughter and I would be okay with anyone knowing that. I just think that you have to talk to your mama about it. It's her call."

Maddie rolled that over in her mind the rest of the night. They watched the movie "True Grit", which Deacon told her was one of his favorites. She'd never really been a fan of cowboy movies, but she wanted to understand her dad better, so she agreed to try it. And it turned out she liked it, giving them something else to enjoy together.

Saturday morning, Deacon got Maddie up early. He'd been thinking about all her questions and he wanted to take her someplace that would give her a little more sense of his history with Rayna and might satisfy some of her curiosity. Since they were meeting Megan for dinner that night, he wanted to get an early start, so they were back in Nashville in plenty of time.

"Where are we going?" she asked when they got on the road.

"I have a cabin up on a lake about an hour and a half from here. I bought it a long time ago, when your mama got nominated for her very first CMA award."

Maddie was thrilled and she smiled happily at him. She was excited to be seeing some of their shared past. "Really? Did you buy it for her?"

He nodded. "I did. Well, I bought it for both of us, but it was what she'd always told me was her dream house. A place on a lake that was quiet and peaceful and away from everything. I looked for a long time and then I found this place. The guy who owned it wanted to get rid of it, so he gave me a pretty good deal. And I took your mama up to see it the day before she won the award for 'Best New Artist'."

"Did you surprise her?"

He laughed. "I did. She was mad at me for taking her because she had rehearsal that afternoon and she was afraid I wouldn't get her back in time."

"Did you?"

He nodded. "I did. Barely. Once I got her up here, she didn't want to leave, so it was her fault that she was almost late." He, of course, didn't tell Maddie the reason they were late was that they had gotten so caught up in the thrill of the new place that they'd hadn't been able to keep their hands off each other.

"Did you come up here a lot?"

"Every chance we could. It's real quiet up here and it was good for writing and daydreaming and…that kind of stuff."

Maddie smiled. "I can't wait to see it."

When they finally pulled up, she almost didn't wait for the truck to stop before she jumped out. She went running up the steps to the porch, peering in the windows. Deacon found himself thinking about all the times that he and Rayna would come up here and she would do the same thing. She would run up the steps and pull on the door, impatiently waiting for him to unlock it. When they were in Nashville, they always took great pains to keep their personal life private; here at the cabin, they could relax. No one would see them or bother them. It occurred to him the same was true with Maddie. Up here, they didn't have to worry that someone would see them and wonder why Deacon Claybourne was spending time with a teenage girl. Or worse, that they would know the teenage girl was Maddie Conrad, daughter of his former lover, Rayna Jaymes, with all the questions that would raise.

When they walked in, Maddie stood in the middle of the great room and looked all around her. She was a little disappointed; it didn't look like a place where her mother had been. It had a very masculine look to it, although it also looked comfortable. She looked back at Deacon with a question on her face. "I thought you said you got this for her."

Deacon nodded. "I got it to surprise her. But she hasn't been here in a very long time."

"Since you broke up." She sighed and then wrapped her arms around her waist. She felt tears in her eyes and she looked back at Deacon, her face full of sorrow. "Why did you break up? If you loved each other so much, why did you have to break up?"

Her pain made his heart hurt and he walked over to her and put his arms around her, holding her tightly. "I'm sorry, Maddie," he said. "Maybe we shouldn't have come here." He could give her an answer to her question, but the truth was that Rayna was the one who needed to give her that answer. After all, she had broken up with him. It was not what he'd wanted.

After a few minutes, Maddie pulled back. She swiped at her eyes. "No, I'm glad we came." She walked over to the windows and looked out over the lake. "Was this the only place you ever went by yourselves? Or did you ever take any other trips?"

This was easier, Deacon thought. "Actually, we took a couple trips to this place in Mexico. It's a small town on the west coast called Troncones. Nobody knew us, except as a couple of Americans that didn't speak the language. We could hide out and totally be alone. We'd go there when things got really hectic and we really needed a break."

"Is that what you wrote 'Postcard from Mexico' about?"

"Actually we wrote it there."

"What was it like writing songs together?"

Deacon raised his eyebrows. Until she'd married Teddy, writing songs with Rayna was a sexual, sensual thing. It was them pouring their hearts out to each other, always so incredibly personal. Even the song he'd worked on with her for her latest album was personal. He was sure that it was kind of a throwback to earlier days, when things were simpler and easier and light. It had felt hopeful, like there was a little crack in the carefully constructed relationship they'd developed after the accident. But then it was gone. He took a deep breath. "It was easy," he said. "The words just came and the melodies just came. It was never hard."

Maddie looked a little wistful. "Like you were meant to be together."

That's what he'd always thought. He'd known after the accident that he'd have to regain her trust, that he'd messed up badly. He hadn't expected her to shut him down. That had been the hardest part. He'd accepted it though and tried to move on with his life. It didn't seem they were meant to be together anymore.

He didn't want to dwell on all of that now, so he showed Maddie around the house and they went out to the lake and sat on the dock and talked about more mundane things. It was as though they both needed a break from the heaviness that was the past. Maddie still wanted to know more, but she felt full at that moment and she needed time to process all of that and this place. It was nice to see a piece of her parents' past, even if it had been so long since her mom had been here that she no longer inhabited the space. She was grateful to Deacon for bringing her here and she hoped they'd come back.

A/N: I have to confess that I threw up in my mouth a little writing that little interlude between Rayna and Luke. Unfortunately, it plays into the stuff that happens later on, so it was necessary. Please know that I hated it as much as you probably did.