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Chapter 19

New Orleans

Rayna moaned as she ate the first bite of warm bread pudding. She offered her next spoonful to Deacon, which he gladly took. The small café was humming with tourists and locals grabbing lunch.

"I love this city," she sighed happily.

Deacon smiled, "I love you seeing you this happy."

She smiled too. In truth, she couldn't remember being this happy. She still had so much on her mind with the girls and Teddy and finishing the album but for the last forty eight hours of the tour, she was determined to enjoy herself. Not that it was overly difficult. New Orleans and Deacon and amazing food with jazz bands playing in the background was close to nirvana for her.

They continued to eat in relative silence, sharing an occasional smile and eating each other's desserts. After their food was gone and they shared another cup of coffee, Deacon suggested they go.

"Go, where?"

Deacon grinned, "I was thinking we could just walk around for a while. I know you are dying to do some shopping in the French Quarter and I'm sure we can catch some decent jazz players near Jackson Square if nowhere else."

She let out a small squeal as she took his hand. He threw money on the table as he happily followed after Rayna.

The Next Morning

3:00 am

Deacon smiled as the sounds of jazz and drunken college boys yelling at each other filled the air. After the concert, most of the crew and stagehands had gone to Bourbon Street . Although neither had a drop to drink, they were both dizzy with the excitement the area provided. The neon lights and the loud guitars coming from the bars mixed was acting like an aphrodisiac for them both. She pulled him into a long slow kiss in the middle of the street; then, they'd ended up slow dancing at one of the bars for almost an hour.

Now they were back in the hotel room and neither were tired. The two made their way onto their balcony, five floors above the cobbled streets. She giggled, out of nothing but pure happiness, and followed him outside.

"Dance with me," he asked in a low voice.

She rolled her eyes, saying there was no music.

"I think I can take care of that," he assured her. He held out his hand, which she took. She wrapped her arms around him and he leaned close into her. She sighed as his voice whispered into her ear, singing the first few lines of 'I'd Love to Lay You Down.' It was one of his favorite songs and he use to sing it to her all the time before things got bad. Then he would occasionally sing as some kind of apology or as a way to make up for another drunken episode.

But this time it was how he use to sing it to her, sweet and sober and sexy as hell.

Rayna held onto him tighter, neither really moving as he continued to sing into her ear. Her hands traveled up and down his back and shoulders enjoying the feel of his muscles under her touch. His hands cupped her ass as she pressed her body against his.

He moved on to another song, then another. She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that but then she was kissing him and her hands were stroking the front of his jeans. She kicked off her shoes and stepped on his feet as they made their way back into room.

As she fell back against the mattress, he pulled his shirt off his shoulders.

"So we are un-agreeing?"

She sat up, lifting her shirt over her head, "Yes, we are definitely un-agreeing." Deacon undid the button of his jeans which Rayna took as a sign to take off her skirt. While they were both undressing, Rayna smirked, "You so did this on purpose."

Deacon stepped out of his jeans and gave Rayna a sexy smile back, "I don't know what you are talking about." As he leaned over Rayna, she pushed him so he was lying on his back. He knew exactly what he was doing when he started singing to her.

New Orleans-The Next Day

Deacon shook hands with another roadie, thanking him for a great tour. Juliette was using words like 'glitter gun' and 'extended encore' to describe what tonight's show would be. His eyes searched for Rayna and found her near Liam. She was making fun of a hickey on his neck, pointing it out to several other members of her band. He questioned the wisdom of Rayna's jokes. Hell, if anybody looked close enough, he had several marks on his neck and chest too.

He heard Glen announce it was time to run through the last set. Normally he hated the last show. For over a decade, the last show meant he was losing Rayna to Teddy and the country club again, he was losing his routine of sound checks and shows, and he losing playing everyday .

Now, for the first time in over a decade he was excited to head back to Tennessee. It seemed crazy that the bigger, more exciting adventure was back at home now.

The Hotel Lobby

Deacon shook the hands of several roadies, wishing them well and promising on the next tour, he'd keep them in mind. As he wondered through the hallway, he ran into several well-wishers and friends who were drinking beer and congratulating themselves on a tour well done.

He made his way into the Lobby itself which was brimming with local media and Edgehill representatives. He spotted Juliette speaking with several guys he recognized as radio deejays and noticed Rayna laughing with a publicist and sevearl VPs from the Label.

The politics of music was never his cup of tea so to speak. But Rayna had always been wonderful at it. He sat down and watched her working the room. He was unsurprised when Liam walked over and took a seat beside him. The two shared small talk for a moment as Liam threw back a double shot of something dark.

Liam cleared his throat before asking what his intentions with Rayna were.

Deacon looked over Liam, surprised by the question and the tone. "My intentions?" He is acting like I'm some fifteen old punk asking out his daughter.

Liam licked his lips before taking another long swallow. "Look, Rayna and I are almost done with the album. It sounds good, really good and its something we made together."

Deacon slowly responded, unsure of where this was going, "Yeah I know, she's let me listen to the tracks and they sound good."

Liam reclined in his chair, growing more comfortable with whatever this conversation was. "I know she is getting your input on the new artists for her label and all but I want to make sure our album stays our album. Mine and Rayna's."

"Look, I'm not going to interfere with you two and the album but…"

Liam nodded and stood up, "Good. " Deacon watched as Liam walked off wondering what in the hell that was. Before he could find Rayna again, he caught sight of Juliette walking quickly towards him. She pulled his arm and led him to a side room, away from prying eyes.

"You okay?" he asked, knowing she wasn't.

Juliette shook her head, "Its my mom. She left rehab two weeks ago and nobody knows where the hell she is."

"Two weeks ago? Why are you just telling me about it now?"

Juliette nodded, "Because I found out exactly twenty minutes ago myself. And exactly ten minutes ago, I fired Glen for not telling me before now. He said he did it for my own good."

Deacon asked what else Juliette knew.

"Nothing. Just that she left." He watched Juleitte's unaffected expression shift, "she has no money and no where to stay."

He sighed and asked what he could do.

She shrugged, "I don't think she went back to Alabama. There's nothing for her there. Glen says he had somebody looking for her but didn't find anything."

Before they could continue, Rayna interpreted by clearing her throat. "Hey you two, Buck says the pilot called and the plane is ready."

Juliette put on a brave face and excused herself to use the bathroom. Rayna asked what was wrong. Deacon shook his head, "Um, I'll explain on the plane about that."

Rayna wrapped one arm around his waist as they made their way into the Main Lobby. She absently asked him what he and Liam were talking about a few minutes prior. "You had a really weird look on your face."

Deacon sighed, "Oh that was Liam peeing all of your album."'

She stopped walking and threw him a confused look.

"I'll explain on the car ride."