Rayna padded into the kitchen and put on a kettle of water on to boil. Teddy had come the day before to pick up the girls for his week. She was glad she'd gotten spring break with them. They'd done the trip to the West Coast and then played tourist in Nashville most of the rest of the week. She and Daphne had done a day at the mall while Maddie had spent the day with Deacon. When they had gone to pick up Maddie, Deacon had suggested ordering pizza, which they did. More than once, Rayna had found herself wondering if their lives could have been this simple and enjoyable. Her heart had ached from the sweetness of it and she was pretty sure that Deacon had conflicted feelings about it as well. She'd found herself wondering how they'd gotten to this place of mere politeness, with only fleeting moments of all that shared history. She felt confused about her feelings, but it had still been a nice evening and she felt like she and Deacon were finally getting the co-parenting thing worked out.

Maddie had seemed more relaxed since the trip to Seattle. Rayna was glad she'd decided to take things a day at a time in her relationship with Deacon. It wasn't just Maddie that she wanted to protect, it was Deacon as well. He'd really surprised her, in a good way, with how he was connecting with their daughter, but she was always mindful of the dangers of stressful situations for him. She supposed she would always feel like she needed to look out for him. He was a part of her, she couldn't deny that, and the bond they would always have now because of Maddie made her want to look out for him.

Tandy had spent Sunday night at the house. The sisters were working on repairing their relationship after the fallout from Tandy's testimony against their father. As she sipped on her tea, Rayna thought about how hard it was to fight with Tandy and how uncomfortable the strain had been. Tandy had been her touchstone after their mom had died and this distance between them had been painful and sad. She hoped that Maddie and Daphne would always remain close. Daphne had shared her own pain the day they'd gone to the mall, how disconnected she felt from Maddie, and it had broken her heart. She hadn't realized the toll all of this was taking on her younger daughter. She'd concentrated so much on what Maddie was going through that she hadn't realized Daphne was hurting too.

"Hey, babe," Tandy said, as she walked into the kitchen, bringing Rayna back to the present. She walked up to her sister and smiled, rubbing her back.

Rayna smiled back. "Hey. Do you want some tea?"

"Love some." Rayna busied herself with getting another cup and fixing the tea for Tandy. "So, what's on the agenda for today, Ms. Highway 65?"

Rayna made a face. "We need to finalize the album art for Scarlett's record. And start planning my tour. Time's getting away from us."

Tandy gave her a pert smile. "I'm ready," she said. "I'll learn all this music business yet."

It was late morning by the time they had mapped out a tentative tour schedule for Bucky to implement. Tandy went into the study to make some calls, leaving Rayna looking over album art choices. She looked up from the artwork she was reviewing when Bucky walked in. She frowned when she saw the sick look on his face. "What's up, Buck?" she asked.

He held up a piece of paper. "I didn't think with we'd have to deal with this, since we hadn't released anything yet, but there's a blurb that's going to be in Nashville Scene about Deacon and Maddie." He handed it to Rayna. "It hasn't been published yet, but I got it for comment."

Rayna felt sick herself as she looked down at what he'd handed her. Nashville Scene wasn't a gossip rag, but the headline felt a little salacious – Is the Mayor's Daughter Really the Mayor's Daughter? – along with a picture of Deacon and Maddie, presumably at a restaurant. She slowly sank onto the couch as she read the short article.

Who is the young teenage girl who's been spotted out and about in East Nashville with guitarist Deacon Claybourne? They were seen recently at Mas Tacos and also leaving Gruhn's Guitars together. Sources say the girl is Maddie Conrad, the daughter of country queen Rayna Jaymes and Nashville Mayor Teddy Conrad. Or is she? Claybourne was the long-time lead guitarist for Ms. Jaymes and they had a long relationship prior to her marriage to the mayor. The timing of that is interesting. Could the queen of country be hiding something?

Rayna looked up. "Son of a bitch," she said, angrily. "Is somebody following them?" Then she gasped. "Do you think someone is following me when I take her over there and pick her up?"

Bucky shook his head. "I don't know. I'll see if I can find out what's on the street and a little more about where this came from. But if you want to get out in front of this, we need to do it quickly. I think we need to go ahead and put out our statement right away."

Rayna looked like she'd seen a ghost. She wrapped her arms around her waist and bent over. "I'll need to call Deacon and Teddy." She looked up at Bucky. "Can you get me the statement? I want to look over it one more time before we put it out. I want to be sure it doesn't give out more information than I'm comfortable with. Just remember, I'm not answering questions." She sat there for a moment, the wheels turning in her head. "I need to go pick up the girls."

Bucky shook his head. "No, you don't need to go out until we put out our statement. I don't think anyone else has this yet, but you never know. Tandy can pick up the girls."

Rayna put her hand up. "No. Since I need to call Deacon and Teddy, I'll have Teddy pick up Daphne and Deacon can get Maddie." She leaned over and put her face in her hands.

Bucky looked at her, sitting hunched over, looking scared. He knew the fallout from this could be devastating to her and to the label, depending on how people reacted. He hadn't expected to have to deal with it this way, however. "So, um, I think you should also tell Luke. No need for him to find out some other way." She nodded mutely. He walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. "We'll get through this," he said.

Rayna looked up and gave him a sad smile. "Thanks, Buck, but I don't think this is going to go well at all."

After Bucky had printed out the release, he, Rayna and Tandy reviewed it one more time. As most of you know, Deacon Claybourne and I have a long history together both personally and professionally. I am coming forward today to acknowledge that Deacon is the father of my oldest daughter Maddie. At the time she was born, the decision was made that Teddy Conrad and I would raise her as Teddy's daughter, but the time has come to disclose the truth. Deacon, Teddy and I all love Maddie very much and we ask that you respect our privacy in this personal family matter.

Tandy let out a harsh laugh. "Like anyone will respect your privacy." She closed her eyes and clenched her fists. "This makes me so angry."

Rayna looked at her with disbelief. "Seriously, Tandy?" She shook her head and then turned to Bucky. She looked grim. "So what's the plan?" she asked, her voice sounding defeated.

Bucky cleared his throat. "It'll go on your website, of course. Then I'm going to release it to some select media outlets and local stations. I'm also trying to arrange a taped interview with Entertainment Tonight. I think it will be tomorrow before we really have to deal with this."

Rayna nodded slowly. "What do you think will be the fallout?"

Bucky shrugged. "It's hard to say. In the grand scheme of things, the fact that Deacon is Maddie's father wouldn't be surprising, considering your relationship with him. I think that by itself isn't so damning. It's the implication that it was a secret. I don't know that it would be difficult to uncover that Deacon didn't know about it and that might be the sticking point. Think about how vicious the public has been about Juliette. Pretty out of proportion, probably, to her alleged offense. I think the same thing could happen here. You need to be prepared for that."

Tandy squeezed her arm. "We'll get through it." Rayna walked away from her and stood in front of the breakfast room window. Tandy looked back at Bucky who raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "Um, I think Bucky should go ahead and get the ball rolling on all of this. I'm going to recommend not officially putting anything out there until after the close of business, just so that we have a little time before whatever's going to happen happens. Are you okay with that, babe?"

Rayna just waved a hand, as if to say "do it". After a brief pause, she heard Bucky's footsteps and then heard him open and close the door. She turned back and faced Tandy, her face void of emotion. "You can go too," she said.

"Rayna, I don't want you to stay here. Will you come stay with me?"

Rayna thought about that and then nodded. "Yes, I'll do that. But you need to go now."

"What about the girls? Do you want me to go pick them up?"

Rayna took a deep breath. Everything was starting to bubble up to the surface and she needed to get herself under control. For almost as long as she could remember, she had worked hard to manage her emotions and keep an even keel. She allowed herself to be angry, but she had worked hard to be an emotionally under control woman. Her long years with Deacon and his unpredictable behavior had sharpened that need to control what happened around her and what she said and did. She very rarely let people see her cry or be vulnerable. She had perfected the performance face. Now she looked at Tandy, her face unemotional. "I'm going to have Teddy pick up Daphne and Deacon pick up Maddie," she said.

"But, babe, don't you want to see them? Tell them what's going on? Especially Maddie," Tandy protested.

Rayna glared at her sister. "No," she said firmly. "It will just complicate things. After I talk to Teddy and Deacon…and Luke, I'll be ready to leave."

Tandy looked confused. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay?"

"No, I don't."

Tandy was concerned about Rayna's lack of emotion. All three of those conversations were likely to be highly charged and she didn't want her sister to be alone. "I'm worried about you, babe." She moved to reach for Rayna.

Rayna pulled back abruptly, her eyes flashing. "Don't. I'm fine."

Tandy shook her head. "I don't think you are."

Rayna looked incredulous, raising her arms in a gesture of frustration. "I have to be. Look where we are. If we hadn't done this all those years ago – you, me, Teddy, even Daddy – we wouldn't be here now. I should never have listened to any of you! We wouldn't be dealing with any of this now. Deacon, Maddie, and I would be a family…." Her voice trailed off. She shook her head. "No. I'm not doing this. Please go, Tandy. I will see you later." Tandy looked hesitant. "Go!" Then she sighed. She walked over to her sister and took her arm. "I'll be there soon. Go," she said more gently.

Tandy pulled her into a fierce hug. "If you need me, call me," she whispered. Rayna nodded. Tandy picked up her purse and, with a last look at her sister, left the house.

Rayna walked to the back door and watched Tandy walk out to her car, get in, and drive off. She stood there a little longer, realizing she was putting off doing what she needed to do. She sighed deeply. Damn. Just when it seemed that there was no rush to make Maddie and Deacon's relationship public, now it would be. Although not by her choosing, or Maddie's. She wondered who had seen them, who had made the connection. Even though Deacon was getting his solo career started and even though he had a somewhat higher profile when they were a couple, he was certainly not a hugely famous person around Nashville. It made her wonder if it was someone who knew him, but it still didn't make sense. She frowned, trying to make sense of it, but she couldn't. And she needed to get things in motion.

She walked over to the desk where she'd left her purse and fished out her phone. She pressed the power button and her heart clenched at the sight of the wallpaper picture of her girls. She had always tried to protect them and now Maddie, at least, was going to be thrust into unfamiliar territory. She went to her contact list and scrolled down to Teddy's name. She was pretty sure that Teddy would be a jerk about this, so she wanted to get it over with first. Her thumb hovered over his name and finally she tapped it and lifted the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Rayna," Teddy answered. "What's up?"

"Um, can you come by the house? I need to talk to you about something."

Teddy grimaced. "Can't we do it over the phone? We're finalizing budgets today."

Rayna sighed. "I'd rather not. It's, um, it's kind of about Maddie. And Deacon."

Teddy was silent for a moment and then swore loudly. "I'll be there shortly," he said angrily, and hung up.

When Teddy got to the house, he let himself in. Rayna was standing in the kitchen and she looked at him apprehensively. "So what is this emergency about Maddie?" he asked tersely. Rayna handed him the copy of the article. Teddy read it and then slammed it down on the counter. "Damn it, Rayna!" he shouted. "This is exactly what I warned you about."

Rayna glared at him. "What was I supposed to do, Teddy? Keep them apart? Tell them they could never leave Deacon's house?"

Teddy shook his head. "Now we're going to have to deal with all this ugliness and have our daughter dragged through the mud."

"I'm putting out a statement in advance of this." She slid that over to him and watched as he scanned it, shaking his head with a bitter laugh. "I'm going to do an interview with Entertainment Tonight also."

He looked at her with dismay. "I told you this was going to happen. When you just had to get involved with him again, I told you you wouldn't be able to keep this undercover."

She looked at him incredulously. "I didn't tell him, Teddy. She found the paternity test. It's as much on you as it is on me. She was already upset about you and Peggy. Neither one of us knew just how upset our separation made her."

Teddy smiled sarcastically and waved his hand at her. "Oh, no, no, no, you're not putting this on me. If you had just stayed away from him…"

Rayna stomped her foot and glared at him. "Deacon is her father!" she shouted.

Teddy let out a strangled cry. "God! I'm so sick and tired of hearing that. I'm Maddie's father. I'm the one that's been there for her and there's no way in hell I'm just going to step aside here," he said angrily.

"No one has ever asked you to step aside," Rayna retorted.

"Yeah, you have, with every guitar lesson, with every overnight visit, with every song. I've been turned into the outsider. Let me tell you something, Rayna, I am not losing Maddie. Not to him." He shook his head vehemently. "Not to him."

"You aren't going to lose her, Teddy. But I have to acknowledge this now." She took a deep breath. "Look, I know this is going to create havoc for both girls."

"I'll go pick them up from school."

"No." Teddy looked at her sharply and she raised her hand. "Not both of them. I'd like for you to go pick up Daphne."

"And what, let Deacon pick up Maddie? Have you lost your mind?" Teddy shook his head.

Rayna's eyes turned steely. "He can take her up to the cabin. Out of Nashville. Away from all this. So will you get Daphne? And explain what's going on?"

Teddy looked at her, fuming. He took several deep breaths before he finally spoke. "I will get Daphne. I don't know what I'll tell her right now." He looked like he wanted to say something else, but stopped himself. He turned and walked out, shaking his head as he left.

Rayna leaned against the counter and closed her eyes for a moment. That had gone pretty true to form. She reached for her phone again and found Deacon's name. When he answered, she said, "I'm going to have to go ahead with the press release. Can you come by?"

"How come, Ray?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just come by. I'll explain it all then, okay?"

"Sure. I'll be there in a few."

She disconnected the call and waited.

Rayna was standing in her kitchen, alone. When Deacon walked in the back door, she wasn't surprised. He never knocked. Even when things were at their worst, the familiarity they had with each other never seemed to go away. He walked over to where she was standing.

"I was surprised that you were doing this now. Did something happen?"

Rayna nodded solemnly. "Yeah. Something did." She slid the sheet of paper over to him that had the story with the picture of him and Maddie at Mas Tacos.

Deacon scanned it and leaned down on the counter on his elbows, covering his face with his hands. "Damn," he whispered. He pushed himself up and looked at her, her face stoic. "I'm sorry, Rayna."

She shook her head. "Don't. It just pushes up the timeline."

"I know this has to be tough. It wasn't what you wanted."

Rayna shook her head. "I'm fine."

"You can cut that out right now. I know you're scared. Talk to me."

The look in her eyes scared Deacon a little. Like she was a little dead inside. He'd seen that look all too often, when she'd dealt with him and his drinking, when she'd dealt with her father and his machinations, all the years she'd been married to Teddy. He knew her so well. He knew that she would bury this deep down inside and not address it, except to lash out in anger, and she'd probably already done that. This was how she got when it was more than she could bear. She rarely let anyone see her cry. She could do it with him, but she was still so controlled. She had told him once, long ago, that she was afraid that if she ever let it all out, she wouldn't be able to stop and that she'd never recover. So it was easier to compartmentalize it all and put on that performance face that said "It's all good. It's all fine. I'm great." Even when she wasn't. And he knew that's what was happening here.

Rayna picked up a kettle and started to pour hot water in a mug. "Tea?" she asked, her face almost vacant.

"No, I don't want tea. I want you to talk."

She shrugged. "There's not much to it. We're going to release the statement today, ahead of the story, hopefully to take some of the sting out of it. You've seen the release. It's pretty straightforward, not a lot of details. It's not what I wanted, but my hand has been forced now." She looked at him with the first flicker of emotion quickly flashing through her eyes. "I want you to go pick up Maddie from school and keep her for a day or two until, well, until whatever's going to happen happens."

"What do you want me to tell her?"

"Just let her know that I'm releasing my statement on the label website and a couple news outlets and that the story is coming out. I'm guessing that the press may try to track her down, so you may want to keep her out of school for a couple days anyway. Take her someplace people can't find her." She looked at him, willing him to bring up the cabin on his own.

Deacon worked his lip. "What if I take her to the cabin? It's far enough away. And private."

Rayna sighed and looked away. "Yeah. That would probably be a good place." She picked up her mug and walked into the den. Deacon stood watching her a moment and then followed, sitting down next to her on the couch.

He breathed in and out and rubbed his hands over his face. "Rayna, what happened at the cabin back then?" he asked quietly.

She looked at him, her eyebrows raised. "You really want to hear it?"

He nodded. "I think I need to know."

She closed her eyes briefly and looked away and down. After running her tongue over her lips, she finally started to speak, not looking at him. "We were at rehearsal. Things between us were actually better, even though you weren't happy that I was dating Teddy. I didn't know that you were still drinking. Drinking again. Because I wasn't with you…all the time…you could hide it from me. And you did a really good job of it. And you were trying to be good. The Deacon I'd fallen in love with." She could hear him breathe in, but she couldn't look at him. "We'd had a good day. The music was good. It felt like old times. And I was weak. You stayed afterwards and you were so sweet to me. I don't even remember now how you talked me into going up to the cabin, but you did. I followed you up there, wondering what the hell I was doing, but all I could think about was that I loved you and I wanted to believe in you and I wanted us to work." Deacon reached out and took her hand. She squeezed it gently and then disengaged. She could feel tears start to prick her eyes and she blinked several times and took in a deep breath. Tamping everything down, deep down inside, in its own little place where it couldn't overtake her.

"Ray…." Deacon said, worried about her.

She put up her hand, still not looking at him. "Let me finish." She swallowed. "When we got there, you lit a fire and all these candles. It looked so romantic. I guess you'd been there recently because there was actually some food in the house. Nothing fancy, of course. Popcorn, as I recall. You always had popcorn." She sighed. "Maddie loves popcorn." Another deep breath. "So you were so sweet that night. The Deacon I remembered. You asked me to stop seeing Teddy, told me that you wanted to marry me." She heard Deacon take in a deep breath. "I wanted that too and I told you I would. It was a beautiful night. A new beginning, I thought. But the next morning you weren't in bed with me, you were passed out on the couch. And you didn't remember a thing. Not one damn thing." Her voice had gotten steely.

Deacon stood up and paced, one hand on his hip, the other rubbing the back of his neck. He felt sick. "Oh, God, Rayna," he said brokenly.

She turned to look at him then, her eyes full of anger. "Don't. You wanted to know. Now you do. So then I knew that you were still drinking, so I sent you back to rehab. Six weeks later I found out I was pregnant. And when I went to tell you, you'd skipped out on rehab and you were at the cabin, wasted. That's when this all started."

Deacon's eyes were filled with pain and sorrow. "I'm sorry, Ray," he whispered.

Rayna stood up and shook her head. "I wish I hadn't told you. But I did." She pushed the emotions that threatened to well up back down inside. "Go get Maddie. I'll let you know when it's okay to bring her home." She walked over to the back door and opened it. "Tell Maddie I'm sorry." She picked up an overnight bag she'd packed.

Deacon nodded mutely and walked to the door. He moved as though to hug her, but she stepped back, shaking her head. Her face told him he needed to keep his distance. He nodded again, took the overnight bag, and walked out the door.

Rayna closed the door firmly and stood there for a moment, watching him as he walked out to his truck. She took a deep breath and then went to pick up her phone. There was one last call to make.

When she heard the knock on the door, Rayna breathed in, then went to open it. Luke was standing there with a big smile on his face. "Hey, gorgeous!" he said, leaning in to kiss her. She stepped back to let him in. "So, what's up?" he asked as she closed the door.

"Let's sit down," she said and led him into the den. She sat on the couch and he sat next to her, propping his feet on the coffee table.

"So spill, sweetheart," he said, jovially.

Rayna breathed in. She felt a lump in her throat as well as a cold chill run down her spine. "Well, I wanted to tell you about a press release that's going out later today. About me and Maddie. And Deacon." She looked at him and he frowned. "Maddie is Deacon's daughter."

Luke's eyes widened. He sat back and exhaled, not looking happy. "Wow. That's a bit of a surprise. You and Deacon kept that secret really well, I must say."

Rayna shook her head. "We didn't keep it secret. I did. Actually Teddy and I did."

Luke frowned. "I don't understand."

Rayna looked down. She picked at her jeans. "I got pregnant and didn't tell Deacon. He was in really bad shape then and was in rehab. So I decided not to tell him. To marry Teddy instead."

"So I still don't understand. Did you not know Deacon was the father?"

"No. I knew. Teddy knew."

Luke scowled. "So when did you get around to telling Deacon?"

Rayna's eyes widened and she took a deep breath. "About six months ago."

Luke looked away, rubbing his face. When he looked back, his eyes were cold. "So you lied to Deacon all that time?"

Rayna shrugged. "It's not exactly like that. I, we, Teddy and I, made some decisions so that we could protect Maddie. Deacon just wasn't in any shape to be a father, we didn't think."

Luke let out a sarcastic laugh. "Damn, girl, that's about as cold a thing as you could do to somebody. I'm not Deacon Claybourne's biggest fan, but hell. I'm surprised he even gives you the time of day these days."

Rayna felt tears prick her eyes and willed them back. "Well, it's been…hard, but we're working through it."

"So, why now? Why the hell go public now?"

"Someone saw Deacon and Maddie out together when she was staying with him. There's a story that's coming out in the next couple days about it. Speculating on that whole relationship. I can't let it be someone's gossip story. So I want to get the truth out." She looked at him. "I wanted to let you know so…."

"So I could be prepared? Goddammit, Rayna, this is beyond outrageous. I can't even wrap my mind around how fucked up this is." He shook his head, then stood up. "I think you can safely say I'm not a part of this anymore. I can't be with someone this manipulative."

Rayna stood up, too, a little surprised at his reaction. "But you don't know the whole story," she said.

Luke spread his arms out. "I don't need to. I hear 'I lied about my daughter's father'. I don't need to hear more than that. We're done, Rayna." He turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Rayna sank back down on the couch, tears streaking down her face. But just what those tears were for, she couldn't have said at that point.

A/N: I don't have much left. Just a few more chapters and then a nice little wrap up. Thanks for reading!