Rayna and the girls rode with Juliette, Avery and Glenn to the airport the next morning. They were dropping Juliette off in Portland, then heading back to Nashville. Scarlett opted to take the tour bus with the rest of the band, but she got up in time to see them all off, giving Maddie a big hug and whispering to her to take care of Deacon. It was early and Juliette was trying not to be too cranky about it. If it hadn't been for Rayna, she'd have left much later.
She smiled at Maddie and Daphne as she walked up to the car taking them to the airport. "So, how was it, girls?" she asked.
Daphne was hopping back and forth from one foot to the other. "It was great! I can't wait to tell everyone I flew on Juliette Barnes' private jet! And that I saw her in concert from the stage. And that I got to do sound check! So awesome! They'll be so jealous!" She was totally wired with excitement.
"It was totally awesome!" Maddie echoed. "Thank you so much!" She leaned in to hug Juliette.
Juliette smiled, cutting her eyes over at Rayna, who was looking slightly annoyed. "Well, you should thank your mama. She's the one who brought you. But I'm so glad you could come. It was definitely fun."
Maddie looked over at her mom then. "Thanks, Mom. This was really great," she said.
Rayna smiled at her daughter. "I'm glad it worked out. I just wish we could stay longer, but you know how it is." She looked over at Juliette. "Running a label sometimes gets in the way of having fun."
Juliette scrunched her nose and then smiled, although the smile never quite reached her eyes. She slid her hand through Avery's arm and headed for the car. "Well, let's get going, y'all," she said. "We need to hit the road."
After they made their brief stop in Portland, the plane headed east for Nashville. Maddie settled into her seat and put in her ear buds. She pulled up her Deacon playlist with everything he had recorded loaded in. She never got tired of listening to his music. She also had other songs that he had written for her mom or that they had written together. She turned for a moment and looked at her mom and Daphne huddled up together, their heads close together as they talked and read a book. She smiled to herself. This had been a great trip. The three of them hadn't done something like this in a while and she had forgotten how much she enjoyed girl time with her sister and her mom. Things had been so stressful lately. Maddie sighed, thinking that she had probably contributed to that.
As Deacon's voice ran softly through her ears, she thought about how much things had changed in her life over the last several months. But things hadn't changed just for her. It affected her mom and dad, Deacon, and Daphne. All her relationships were changing. Some of that felt uncomfortable and awkward, particularly the strain between her and her dad.
Teddy. She felt a little sad about how things were between them now. She knew she had pushed him away in her effort to get to know Deacon better. She knew that the arguments they had were because he didn't want to lose her. He'd been a good dad. He still was. She knew he loved her and, now that she knew he wasn't her biological dad, she was beginning to realize how lucky she was that he had consciously chosen to love her. He had always treated her as though she were his. She would never have known he wasn't her real dad by the way he talked to her, listened to her, comforted her, loved her. She felt bad that she'd been disrespectful to him. She didn't mean to be. She just wished he understood that she needed to find out more about where she came from and that it didn't mean that she loved him any less.
She thought about what her mom had said about not trying to create this whole relationship with Deacon in just a few days. To give it time and be patient. What had she said? Who are you pretending to? It was true. The people who knew her best – her mom and dad, Deacon, Daphne, Aunt Tandy, Talia – they all knew the truth. She could be honest around them about Deacon. She didn't have to tell the whole world. At least not right away. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to let it happen naturally. Everything had been so hard at first, that it might be nice to take it slow.
She thought back to when she found the box with her mother's private things, back when her whole life turned upside down. Old contracts, letters from her grandmother, newspaper clippings. And then down at the bottom was this official looking envelope. When she had pulled out the piece of paper, she had been confused by the reference at the top to paternity test results. She had looked at it carefully and noted that the date on the report was a week after she was born. It had identified the mother as Rayna Wyatt Conrad and the 'alleged' father as Theodore Michael Conrad. Her name was also on the report – Madeline Virginia Conrad. There were lots of numbers, but there at the bottom in a brief paragraph, it had stated that the probability that Theodore Michael Conrad was the father of Madeline Virginia Conrad was 0%. That he was not her biological father.
She remembered feeling sick to her stomach. Her head hurt. She'd taken everything into her room and called Talia, sobbing. Talia had tried to calm her down, but she didn't really know what to say. She remembered Talia asking her if she knew who her father might be if it wasn't Teddy. She hadn't really thought about that at first, but she knew that her mom had dated Deacon before she'd married her dad. It made her wonder.
Maddie had been so mad at her mother. She'd taken the box back to her mom's closet and put it back where she'd found it, although she kept the paternity test results. But her anger had consumed her and she had barely slept that night. The next morning, she couldn't look at her mom, as she'd fixed breakfast for her and Daphne and prepared their lunches. That was the day that Juliette's mom had died and it was all over the news, but Maddie didn't care. And then her mom had told them that she and Deacon were going to go to the CMA's that night, that they were seeing each other. But of course, Maddie already knew that. She hadn't known until that moment what she was going to do with the information she had, but that's when she decided that after school she would confront Deacon.
She hadn't been able to keep her mind on school all that day. All she could think about was the paternity test, in the envelope in her backpack. Dad isn't my dad. Mom lied to me my whole life. Why did she do this? Why didn't my real dad want me? It had bothered her to think that Deacon was her dad and that he hadn't wanted her to be his daughter. Yet he'd always been so nice to her and told her stories and taught her guitar chords. And told her he loved her.
She had felt like she was in a daze when she asked Talia to help her call a cab. The cab driver had been a little reluctant to take her all by herself to Deacon's, but she assured him she knew who she was going to see. He had waited at the curb as she walked slowly up the steps and then waited for Deacon to answer the door. She heard him drive off as Deacon let her in.
I think you might be my father. She'd practiced that in her head all day. She'd thought about it as she breathed in deeply in the cab, willing the tears away that threatened to fall. She remembered the look on Deacon's face. Surprise. Confusion. Not what she'd expected.
Their conversation had been uncomfortable. She'd been angry at first, but he'd been so shocked that she realized he hadn't known. She had finally started to cry. He'd put his arm around her to comfort her, but she remembered that it had felt awkward. She hadn't felt comforted at all and he seemed afraid to even touch her.
He had told her he didn't see how he could be her father, that he and her mom had broken up a long time before she'd married Teddy. But she could tell he wasn't sure of that at all.
She hadn't been sure how to feel that day. She'd always loved her "Uncle" Deacon, but now it all felt wrong. Her whole life had been a lie and he was at the center of it. She didn't know how to feel.
He had told her he'd find out what was going on and he'd called a cab to send her home. Her mom was gone by the time she got there. The babysitter was there, but she had hardly noticed how distraught Maddie was. Maddie picked at her dinner, then went to her room.
Around 8:30 that night, there were suddenly loud voices and slamming doors. She heard footsteps quickly running up the stairs and right for her room. Her mom and dad came rushing in, looking frantic. She got up off her bed and started throwing things into a bag, along with her accusations. They had confirmed that Deacon was her father. Her biological father, as her dad kept saying. All she knew was that she'd been lied to, that Deacon had been lied to, that her whole life was a lie, that she had been her mom's mistake that she'd covered up by marrying someone else.
It had been a tough few days. She'd finally stopped freezing out her mom, but she was still so confused. Deacon never tried to see her, which had hurt. She knew now that it was because he was drinking, something that then, and even now, was painful and embarrassing to think about. Her dad had tried to be the solid one then, but there were times she even got mad at him.
She'd had no idea what would happen to her. Her mom and Deacon were back together. Would they get married now? How would that all work? What about her dad? And Daphne?
Then came the night her dad had woken her and Daphne up with the news that their mom had been in a really bad accident, caused by Deacon. That, of course, had turned out not to be completely true, but it had made things even more confusing and hard. Her mom was in a coma, Deacon was in jail, and her dad was fluttering around trying to be the strong one.
She'd been relieved when her mom woke up, but it hadn't taken long for the bitterness to come back. She was angry at her mom for lying to her. She was embarrassed that her real dad was an alcoholic. And he didn't seem to want to see her, which had hurt. And her dad tried so hard, but even he made her angry with his intense dislike for Deacon and that fact that he didn't seem sorry for what he had done to her. Most of all, it was clear that whatever relationship her mom and Deacon had had before the accident was done, over.
When things had gotten more or less back to normal after her mom got home, her curiosity about Deacon grew. She started listening to his music and researching him as best she could since her mom was reluctant to talk about him. Her life was in turmoil and she'd had no idea where she fit. Seeing her dad with Daphne at his wedding had been the breaking point for her. And seemed to finally be the moment when her mom understood that she needed to know Deacon as her dad.
Maddie smiled to herself. Now she truly felt like she was Deacon's daughter. He made her feel loved and protected and valued the way Teddy did with Daphne. She was finally feeling a true connection with him that felt truly comforting. She knew who she was. She was Maddie Claybourne, the daughter of Deacon Claybourne and Rayna Jaymes. She was part of the two of them and that felt right and good. She turned and looked out the window of the plane and thought about how she was flying home to her father.
Maddie was reading when the co-pilot came out of the cockpit briefly to let them know they were about an hour outside of Nashville. She turned and noticed that Daphne had moved to another seat and was sound asleep. She closed her Kindle and put it in her bag and got up from her seat. She walked back to where her mom was sitting. "Can I sit with you?" she asked.
Rayna looked up at her and smiled. "Of course." She held her arm out and Maddie sat down next to her, smiling as her mom put her arm around her shoulders. "What have you been doing all this time?" her mom asked.
Maddie looked up at her. "Listening to music. Reading. Thinking about what a good time I had." She grinned. "Thanks for taking us. This was fun."
"I'm so glad you had a good time. I always enjoy my time with my girls." Rayna sat back and closed her eyes, hugging her older daughter close. "I'm sorry we couldn't stay longer."
Maddie leaned her head back on her mom's arm. "Yeah, me too. But now I can see my dad. Do you think I could spend a whole day with him? I know it's your week, but…"
Rayna opened her eyes and looked at her. "If that's what you want, and it's okay with Deacon, it's okay with me."
"Thanks." She frowned a little as she considered what she'd been thinking about earlier. "You know, Mom, I'm okay with waiting."
Rayna looked confused. "Waiting?"
"You know, keeping things private. With Deacon."
Rayna raised her eyebrows and nodded slightly. "That's good, Maddie. We'll just play things by ear, how about that?"
Maddie nodded and then snuggled up to her mom. She asked her the one last question that she had. "Mom?" she asked hesitantly. Rayna looked at her questioningly. "When you got pregnant, did you love Deacon?" Her voice was soft and shaky.
Rayna felt her breath catch. She wrapped her arms around her daughter and laid her head on top of Maddie's. "Oh, sweet girl," she murmured. Such a big question. Everything that had happened at that time had been so very complicated. Everything except for that one thing. "Yes, Maddie, I did love him. I loved him more than anyone else in the world." She decided to add the part Maddie hadn't asked about. "And he loved me too. Don't ever think you didn't come from love, sweet girl, because you did." She felt tears in her eyes and her heart was heavy. "I just wish that had been enough," she whispered hoarsely.
Maddie reached up and grabbed her mom's arms, leaning into her. "Me too," she whispered back.
It had been a busy month in the Mayor's office. Budget time was always tense and everyone worked overtime. Jack hated this time of year but they only had a few more days of this. Late on Friday afternoon his cell phone rang. He almost ignored it but glanced at the screen. Caroline. He smiled. The pretty girl he'd met at a Christmas house party, who worked for the Nashville Scene.
"Caroline, hey," he said as he answered. He listened. "Oh, yeah, wow, thanks for calling and reminding me. I'd forgotten all about that. Things have been pretty hectic here." He nodded. "I'll send it right now." He smiled. "Great. And drinks sounds great. See you then."
He disconnected and quickly went to his photos. He found the one he was looking for. Before he sent it, he added a note. Def the mayor's daughter. She was here last week. Happy hunting!