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Chapter 11
Rayna's Penthouse
Her heart beat faster the longer Coleman kept hinting and beating around the bush.
"Look Rayna. This kid, the Lawson fellow, called me when Deacon was in rehab the last time. Said he'd called you hours before about Deacon taking off. He hadn't heard back from you. So I was the only other person Deacon mentioned to him. Got my number from the phone book in the office."
"Coleman whatever you think…."
"Rayna I went up there. I went to the bars within a few miles. They recognized you, told me you'd picked Deacon up. I drove back to Nashville, the long way. Thought you two might be at the Cabin, letting him sober up..."
"You went to the cabin that night?" Rayna asked, her words barely coming out.
"Briefly, I went up on the porch…I realized I'd walked in on something and figured I'd just call in the morning."
She gasped an "oh my God" before telling Coleman she had to go.
Her mind went blank as she threw down the phone.
The Hotel Restaurant
Deacon looked as Rayna played with her breakfast. Something was off with her. Perhaps she was bracing for seeing Teddy. Even during the years Teddy and Rayna were supposedly happy, Teddy being on the road was awkward. Maybe he'd made a place for himself everywhere else in Ray's life but never on tour. But just like the Bluebird, the bridge over Black River, and the cabin…the road was their place.
The girls continued to chat about Juliette's new outfit from last night's concert. He moved his hand under the table and took Rayna's hand. His thumb drew reassuring circles on her wrist. She met his gaze with an appreciative smile.
Rayna's Penthouse
Deacon followed Rayna through the penthouse until she came to stop in the kitchen. She pushed herself up on the counter top and gave him a look of dread.
"How bad?" asked Deacon.
"I don't even know where to start." She paused for a moment, stealing the water back. "The warrants are going to be taken out late Thursday night. Teddy is suppose to turn himself in on Friday before the sun comes up. His bond is going to be set at one million dollars. Daddy is covering it."
"How did the girls take it?"
Rayna shrugged, "We didn't tell Daphne. Sarah took her to lunch and the park. We told Maddie and she is furious at both of us. Somehow this is my fault too. Her father embezzles money with his ex-girlfriend and that is somehow on me."
Deacon asked if anything else was wrong and she took a deep breath.
"Coleman called me last night. Matt Lawson is talking to the papers…or at least a paper."
Deacon furrowed his brow in confusion for a moment before asking what his former roommate was saying.
"I don't know, not exactly."
Deacon let on a soft smile, "What are you afraid he is going to say? He was my roommate when I got sober. That is a good thing."
Rayna's face turned serious. "I just…." Rayna shook her head in silence. "A lot happened back then and it just hard to think about it all and…"
Deacon moved closer, settling between her legs which were swinging off the counter. He looked into her eyes and wiped a tear that had slipped down her cheek. "I know I put you through hell back then. I can never make up for everything I put you through."
She didn't say a word, instead just pulled him closer into a hug. After a long minute she whispered, "You know I love you."
Deacon pulled back to look at Rayna's face. His fingers ran through her hair, and asked if anything else was going on. Instead of answering, Rayna pulled him tightly against her again.
Backstage in Juliette's Dressing Room
Deacon walked in suspiciously, it was odd that thirty minutes before show time Juliette had cleared her dressing room to talk to him. He waited for her to finish, only to roll his eyes when Juliette announced a new article was being written about him from an old roommate in rehab.
"Yeah I know. Matt Lawson…"
Juliette nodded and handed her I-Pad to him. Deacon scanned the article. Then read the column again. "Well this is bullshit."
"Which part."
"For one, I wasn't with Rayna when I was in rehab. She'd moved out way before that. Hell, she'd already gotten involved with Teddy. I didn't realize they were serious, hell I thought she was doing it to make me jealous."
"Obviously they were a lot more serious than you thought."
Deacon let out a self-deprecating laugh. "I went to see Ray and told her I was ready to get clean. I'd said the same thing probably a hundred times before. You gotta remember by that point, I gotten kicked out of rehab once, left on my own twice, and relapsed after finally get through it."
"She didn't believe you?"
Deacon shrugged, "She wanted to." A moment of silence past . "She was staying with her sister. I slept on her couch that night and Rayna and Tandy drove me two hours up to the center the next morning."
"So the part about her coming and visiting you in rehab is just a lie?"
"Ray dropped me off and six months later she was announcing her engagement to Theodore."
Juliette looked at Deacon strangely. "It's just a weird thing to lie about."
Deacon rolled his eyes. "Not really. The whole damn article is about how me and Ray have never stopped screwing each other. This lie is just to try and prove that."
Rayna's Penthouse
Rayna put her hand on her hip and threw the printed out article on the table. "I have to tell him. Matt Lawson has just told the world that I saw Deacon while he was in rehab."
Teddy shook his head with a very loud "No. We are not having this discussion."
"Ted…"
"I SAID NO DAMN IT. SHE IS MY DAUGHTER."
Rayna clinched her jaw. "He is never going to forgive me for this. But he deserves to know."
Teddy practically spit out his words. "So he didn't deserve to know then but now that you two are screwing again he does?"
Teddy told Rayna to "not even think about." Then he stormed off cussing yelling he was taking the girls out to eat and she needed to stay the "hell away from him right now." She winced hearing the door slam behind him.
Rayna slowly walked to the couch and sat down on the couch.
Nashville
Tandy closed the door behind Coleman and shut her eyes. She walked over to her mantle, tracing her fingers over a picture of she and her sister on Rayna's wedding day. She closed her eyes remembering that day fondly. She moved on to look at pictures of she and Rayna as girls and the girl's school pictures.
All of that was going to be blown to hell now. Coleman met with the journalist who'd interviewed Matt Lawson and got an advanced copy of a more in-depth article that was coming out tomorrow.
Lawson recalls Deacon and he had both been granted phone privileges. Lawson chose to call his mother in Virgina; meanwhile Deacon called his long term girlfriend Rayna James. But according to Lawson, Deacon never spoke to Rayna that night. Rather, Clayborne spoke to her roommate. The roommate informed Deacon that Rayna was with her new boyfriend, Teddy Conrad.
Tandy recalled the phone call in her own head. "Deacon she's moved on. His name is Teddy and they are crazy about each other. He is solid and put together. If you really cared about her…like I know you do, you would just let her go." He'd fussed with for a while so she'd reminded him of all his failures and over-exaggerated how close Rayna was with Teddy.
Tandy couldn't make herself read the rest of the article again. She didn't need to re-read it. It was simple: Deacon left rehab, got drunk, and Rayna had found him. The last portion of the article was just speculation on Lawson's part. There was a picture of Rayna and Deacon at the CMAs several years ago and one of them on stage from at least 8 or 9 years ago. The caption read, "Many, including Lawson, believed the two never stopped their relationship."
Tandy put down the paper and then up at the mantle to Maddie's most recent picture.