Rayna got back in the limo and watched as they pulled away from Deacon's house, headed back across town. Suddenly she was shaking violently. It was chilly, sitting in the car with just her sleeveless gown on from her aborted appearance at the CMA's, but the reality of what had happened that night was finally enveloping her. She felt sick to her stomach. She took slow, deep breaths, trying to slow down her racing heart and calm her queasy stomach. She pulled her phone out of her clutch and dialed Teddy.

"I hope you're on your way," came Teddy's terse voice.

Rayna felt tears threaten and she kept breathing. Finally she responded. "Yes, Teddy, I'm on my way. How's Maddie?"

"How do you think she is? She's mad and she's upset and she's confused. I've tried to calm her down as best I could. I don't want her to wake up Daphne and get her started asking questions."

Rayna clenched her fist in her lap. "How did she find out? Did she tell you?"

"She's really not saying much at all. She's in her room with the door closed."

"I'll be there in just a few minutes." And she clicked off.

She closed her eyes as she sat back against the limo seat. She'd had an odd feeling that morning when she was talking to the girls at breakfast. They'd seen the news about Juliette Barnes' mother on TV, but Maddie was strangely unemotional about it. Considering how much she idolized Juliette, it seemed off. When Rayna had told them she was going with Deacon to the CMA's as his date, Maddie had made the odd comment about her having dated him right before marrying Teddy. She'd brought that up a day earlier, when she'd overheard Rayna telling Deacon she loved him, but it was as though she were fixated on it.

Deacon had been traveling with her on tour for the last several weeks, but they'd kept their relationship under the radar until Rayna had felt comfortable sharing it with the girls. She was sensitive to their reactions in the wake of Maddie finding out about Peggy and, even though the girls had known Deacon all their lives, she didn't want to take anything for granted. She'd been troubled too by the knowledge that she was keeping Maddie's paternity a secret from Deacon. It felt uncomfortable, but she hadn't known quite how to raise the issue, either with Deacon or with Teddy. And so she had kept quiet. Now she wished she hadn't.

This was not how she had expected this to go. Of course, she'd never really thought about when, or if, she would ever tell Deacon, at least not since Maddie was a tiny baby. She'd always assured Teddy she would keep it a secret, back when she had first found out she was pregnant and didn't know what to do. Deacon was a mess then. In fact, when she had gone to find him and tell him, she'd found him at the cabin, drunk. She had let Tandy pull her away and, when Teddy offered to marry her and raise the baby as his own, she had gratefully accepted. She'd never thought that this could happen. Of course, she'd never thought she and Teddy would divorce or that she would find herself standing on Deacon's front porch, declaring her love for him.

She was trying not to cry. She needed to be strong for Maddie. But this was a mess. This was not how she would have wanted this to come out. She thought about what Deacon had said to her. How could you lie to me all this time? How could you watch me with her all this time and lie to me every single day? She'd always thought she was doing the right thing. It had started because Deacon was an alcoholic, who couldn't seem to get sober. She couldn't put her child through that kind of life. She had lived it herself for so many years and it was debilitating and hard and tumultuous. It had nearly destroyed her and she couldn't do that to a baby. But Deacon had gotten better. Inexplicably, he'd figured out how to get and stay sober. But she'd never been able to figure out when was a good time to tell him. Truthfully, it had felt easier to leave things as they were and just make sure that he had a good relationship with Maddie. Which he did. He loved Maddie and Maddie loved him. She had no idea what would happen now.

When he'd confronted her in her dressing room, she'd seen something in his eyes she hadn't seen in many years. She saw desperation, she saw hurt, she saw anger. She saw hate. It had shaken her to her core. Her instincts had taken over, though, because she knew that, even though he'd been sober thirteen years, this was the kind of traumatic experience that could put him over the edge. And she had seen that in him as he'd stood in front of her, seen that craving for a drink that she still remembered only too well.

She felt tears threaten as she considered that she might have lost him over this. She wondered if there was any way that she could fix it, repair the damage. She loved him. Now that they had finally found their way back to each other and he was healthy and sober, she dreaded the thought of losing him forever. I have to make him understand. I need to give him some time, but I have to make him understand.

When the limo pulled up to her front door, she nearly jumped out before the car stopped. She raced up the steps to the front door and pulled it open, running for the stairs. She could hear voices in Maddie's room and she hurried to her door and opened it. Teddy was standing at the end of Maddie's bed and Maddie was propped up on her pillows, her eyes red and her cheeks stained with tears.

Rayna felt a lump in her throat and her stomach was knotted up. "Maddie, I'm so sorry," she started, as she walked in.

As soon as Maddie saw her, her face turned hard and angry and she jumped off the bed. She went to her closet and grabbed a bag. She started throwing things in it as Rayna and Teddy tried to figure out what to say. "So Deacon's my dad," she said, her voice bitter and harsh.

Teddy shook his head. "No, honey, well, biological, yes, but I'm your dad and I always will be. There's a difference…."

"Not like Daphne," she interrupted.

Rayna felt devastated. "Honey, it doesn't matter, he loves you the same as he loves your sister." She was wringing her hands, feeling like she was begging. "The decisions we made at the time were because we loved you so much, because…."

Maddie interrupted again, furiously looking at Teddy. "How could you marry her if you knew she was pregnant by somebody else?" she shouted at him.

"Because, honey, we didn't know that was the case at first," Teddy said. "And I loved your mother very much and decided that it didn't matter."

Maddie looked horrified. "It doesn't matter who my real father is?"

"That's not what I'm saying."

"I know it's so hard to understand," Rayna said, trying to explain the unexplainable. "It was such a complicated situation…."

Maddie shook her head. "No, I understand it all. You lied to Deacon and you lied to me." She looked at Teddy. "Daddy, I want to live with you."

Teddy shook his head. "Now, honey, come on, please…."

Maddie turned back to Rayna. "This is all your mistake. My even being born."

Rayna felt like she'd taken a knife to the heart. "That's not true, honey." Maddie picked up her bag and rushed past them. "Maddie!" she called after her and then started to follow her. "No, listen…" She stopped short when Teddy grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She glared at him. "What?"

Teddy held onto her arm as she tried to pull away. "Listen, if she needs to work through it this way, then let her do it." At the look on Rayna's face, he knew what she was thinking. "You promised me I wouldn't lose her. I'm promising you the same thing."

Rayna made a noise in the back of her throat. "I need to help her," she pleaded.

Teddy shook his head. "Let me take her home with me," he said, his voice kind. "Maybe she'll talk to me and give me a little more information. You can come get her tomorrow." Rayna started to protest and he held up his hand. "I know you want to fix this right now, but you can't, Rayna. Neither one of us can. Just give her some time." Then he looked hard at her. "Where were you?"

Her face crumpled and she looked away for a moment. "I had to take Deacon home," she said softly. When Teddy rolled his eyes, she felt herself get angry. "Teddy, this was hard for him too. No matter how you feel about him, this was a surprise to him and he didn't take it very well. I had to be sure he got home without…."

Teddy smirked. "Without falling off the wagon. I get it. And that was more important than our daughter?"

Rayna frowned. "At that moment, it was important that I do that."

Teddy stood there for a moment, but then he backed away. "Whatever. I need to get Maddie home. I'll call you tomorrow." He turned and walked down the hallway to the stairs, leaving Rayna collapsing back against the wall in tears.

Finally Rayna went downstairs and changed out of her gown into jeans and a sweatshirt. She found her clutch in the foyer where she'd dropped it when she'd come in the house. She pulled out her phone and walked into the den. She sat on the couch, one leg pulled up under her, and scrolled down her list of contacts to Deacon's name. She wanted to call him, but she wasn't sure he'd want to talk to her. She was afraid they wouldn't be able to fix this, that she wouldn't be able to make him understand, that he would never get over being angry with her. She wasn't sure that she could let him go, just when she'd gotten him back.

She pressed the call button and listened as the phone rang and then went to voice mail. Her heart sank. This is Deacon. Leave a message. She sighed. "Deacon, it's me. I really want to talk to you. Please call me. I'm begging you. I love you, babe, and I really want us to work through this. Just…just call me." She hung up and then sat there on the couch, tears rolling down her face, feeling utter despair. She just hoped Coleman was able to keep him safe.

She walked back upstairs, stopping briefly at Maddie's room. She felt such a pain in her heart over how unhappy her daughter was. She wished she'd been able to explain more, but she acknowledged to herself that it probably was better that Maddie be with Teddy right now. Even though she ached to hold her and comfort her, she knew Maddie wouldn't be able to accept that from her tonight. She hoped that by tomorrow, she'd have calmed down and would be ready to listen.

She walked down to Daphne's room and slowly opened the door, peeking in. Daphne was lying on her side facing away from the door and seemed to be sound asleep. Rayna hesitated and then softly walked in the room and carefully sat on the edge of Daphne's bed, hoping not to disturb her. She watched her for a few minutes, then reached out and gently smoothed her hair. Daphne startled her by rolling over on her back, her eyes wide open.

"Oh, baby girl, I'm sorry," Rayna whispered. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

Daphne's eyes were wide and sad, her little mouth turned down. "I wasn't asleep."

Rayna frowned and slid over on the bed, pulling her legs up under her. She put an arm around Daphne's head, rubbing her fingers lightly over the little girl's forehead. "Why aren't you asleep?"

"I heard yelling," she said. "You and Daddy and Maddie." Rayna felt a stabbing in her heart that Daphne had heard all that. "I couldn't really understand what y'all were saying, but I could tell Maddie was mad. Why was she mad?"

Rayna thought about what to say. She had thought of this as affecting Maddie, as well as her and Teddy. And Deacon, of course. She hadn't really thought about the fact that, even though it wasn't about Daphne, it impacted her too. She took a deep breath and she slid down on the bed next to her daughter, laying her head on the pillow. Daphne turned her head to look at her mother. Rayna thought it was probably time to stop the lying, so she decided to tell her the truth.

"Well, honey, this might be a little complicated and hard for you to understand, but Maddie found out today that your dad isn't her father. And she's pretty upset about that."

Daphne frowned. "I don't understand. Does it mean she's not really my sister?"

Rayna shook her head. "No, sweetheart, she's still your sister. I'm your mama, yours and Maddie's. But, uh, Deacon is Maddie's father." She paused. Daphne looked like she was going to cry. "I can't really explain it all to you, but when Maddie was born, I was married to your dad and he loves Maddie just like he loves you." She reached out and ran her hand over Daphne's cheek and then picked up a strand of her hair. "Maddie is going to need us to let her know how much we love her right now. Can you do that?"

Daphne nodded. "Is Deacon my dad too?"

"No, sweetie. Daddy's your dad. And he's Maddie's dad too. Still."

Daphne screwed up her face. "That does seem complicated. I guess I understand why she was yelling."

Rayna gave her a sad smile. "I wish I didn't have to tell you this, but I want you to understand why Maddie might be unhappy for a while. She's staying with your dad tonight, but she'll come back home tomorrow."

Daphne sighed. "Okay." She looked pensive, but she didn't say anything else.

Rayna hated having to put such grown up stuff on Daphne's shoulders, but there had been enough secrets and she knew this was one that they wouldn't be able to keep from her. Daphne turned and snuggled into her and Rayna felt tears spring up as she cuddled with her daughter. She hadn't thought she'd be able to sleep that night, but laying there with her younger daughter's small body curled up against hers, she was finally able to let go of some of the tension she'd been feeling and before long, they both fell asleep.

When Daphne's alarm went off the next morning, Rayna was disoriented for a moment. She realized she'd fallen asleep in Daphne's bed and she turned off the alarm, then leaned over her daughter. "Daph, wake up, sweetheart," she said softly.

Daphne's eyes slowly opened. "Did you sleep in here?" she asked, sleepily.

Rayna smiled. "I guess so. I'm going to go fix your breakfast. You need to get up and get ready for school."

Daphne made a face. "Can't I stay home today?"

Rayna shook her head. "No, you can't. Now, get up." She rolled off the bed and rubbed her face with her hands. "I'll see you downstairs." She walked to the door.

"Mom?" Daphne called out. Rayna turned back to look at her. "Will Maddie be at school?"

Rayna sighed. "I doubt it. But she'll probably be home when you get home." Daphne nodded solemnly and, after a second, Rayna turned and walked downstairs.

She took a quick shower and changed clothes, pulling her wet hair back into a ponytail. When she got to the kitchen, she picked up her phone. No voice mail, no missed calls, no texts. Her heart sank. She wondered if Deacon had listened to her message. She texted Coleman. How is he? I want to see him. Then she went to the pantry and got out cereal for Daphne's breakfast, setting it on the counter. She had started preparing her daughter's lunch, when she heard her phone ring. She practically leaped on it, but was strangely disappointed to see it was only Teddy.

"Hey, Teddy," she said when she answered. "How's Maddie?"

"She's still sleeping. She had a pretty rough night. We talked for a while and she finally went to bed. I'm going to let her stay home from school today."

Rayna nodded. "Okay." She ran her tongue over her lips. "Did you tell you anything more about, you know, how she found out?"

Teddy cleared his throat. "Yeah, she did. She went snooping in your closet."

Rayna made a face. "What? But why?"

"Well, apparently after you told her you were seeing Deacon, she decided to go looking for anything she could find about when the two of you were together. She, uh, she found the paternity test results."

Rayna covered her mouth and sat down on one of the kitchen stools. "Oh, God," she said. "But why wouldn't she have come to one of us, Teddy? Why did she go to Deacon?"

"I don't really know, Rayna. I think, in that moment, she was really mad and resentful and she wasn't thinking clearly." He paused for a minute. "So I'm guessing Deacon confronted you about it."

Rayna nodded. "Yeah, he did. As you can imagine, he was pretty upset."

"Well, we're going to have to figure this out between the two of us. I don't want him involved in this at all. Or with Maddie."

Rayna bristled. "Teddy, that's not fair. He's her father. If he wants to…."

"No!" Teddy barked. "No. Absolutely not."

Just then Daphne walked in and looked quizzically at her mother. "Teddy, Daphne's here. I've got to go."

"Don't say anything to her, Rayna."

"I already did. She heard us last night."

Teddy let out an aggravated sigh. "Great, just great. Look, you can pick up Maddie this afternoon. I'll talk to you later." And he hung up.

Daphne hopped up on the stool next to Rayna and started pouring cereal in a bowl. "Is Maddie coming home?" she asked, in a small voice.

Rayna sighed. "Yeah, she is. Later today." She got up off the stool and went around to finish putting together Daphne's lunch. "Hurry up and eat, baby girl. I'll take you to school today." She picked up her phone again and called Tandy.

"Hey, babe," Tandy said as she answered. "What's going on?"

"Can I come by to see you? I'm going to take Daphne to school. Can I come over then?"

"Well, sure." Tandy's voice sounded puzzled. "But why's Maddie not going to school?"

Rayna felt gripped with emotions, but pushed them down. "That's what I want to talk to you about. I'll see you later." And she hung up without waiting for Tandy to respond. She looked over at Daphne then. "Go brush your teeth so we can go," she said.

Just as she was pulling out of the school driveway, Coleman called. "Hey, Cole, how is he?" she asked, frantic to hear something.

"I'm on my way over there now," he said.

"What? You left him by himself all night? Cole…."

"No, Rayna," he interrupted. "He wasn't there by himself. But I can't be there 24/7, so I got some other sponsors to help out. We're covering him around the clock for at least the next few days."

Rayna breathed a sigh of relief. "How was he last night?"

"I'm not gonna lie, Rayna. It was bad. He's angry. He's hurt. He's humiliated."

She wanted to cry. Her stomach hurt and her head hurt. "I need to talk to him, Cole. I need to explain."

"I think you need to give him some space, Rayna. He's not ready to hear you right now."

"But he let me drive him home. That has to mean something."

"It means he didn't want to go drink. You shouldn't read anything else into that. He doesn't want to see you right now."

Rayna choked back a sob. "But I have to talk to him. I have to make him understand."

"Rayna, just leave him alone for now. That's the best thing you can do for him. I'll let you know when I think he might be ready."

"Just let me know how he's doing, okay? And tell him, I don't know. Just tell him I want to talk to him."

"I will. Look, I'm here now and I need to take over for the guy that's here."

Rayna felt tears running down her cheeks. "Thanks, Cole," she said, and hung up.

When Tandy opened her door, she gasped when she saw her sister. "Rayna, you look awful!" she cried. She grabbed Rayna's hand and pulled her in the house.

Rayna gave her a look. "Thanks, babe. That's always nice to hear," she said, with a sad smile.

"Well, you know what I mean. I'm sorry I was so blunt, but something is obviously wrong. What is it?"

Rayna looked at her sister helplessly, then looked away. Finally she looked back and burst into tears. "Maddie and Deacon know," she said. "And neither one of them will talk to me."

Tandy immediately took Rayna in her arms. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. Come on, let's sit down." She led Rayna into the den and they sat on the couch, Rayna leaning her head on Tandy's shoulder, Tandy smoothing her hair and holding her hand. "Tell me what happened."

Rayna took a deep, shuddering breath as she regained her composure. "Last night, Deacon was supposed to pick me up for the CMA's. It was going to be our first public date. The girls knew we were seeing each other and seemed okay with it and we were ready. Except that Deacon never showed up. Bucky had to get me a limo at the last minute." She sat up then and turned to face her sister. "I just thought maybe he'd changed his mind, but he showed up, just wasn't particularly friendly. I was getting ready to go on stage to present an award when he showed up at my dressing room. And asked me if he was Maddie's father."

"Oh, babe," Tandy said, her eyes wide. "How did he find out?"

"Maddie told him. She found the paternity test results. And then she went and asked Deacon if he was her father. And what was I supposed to say to that? I had to confirm it. And he was furious, as you would expect. He walked out and I was so afraid he was going to go to a bar, so I followed him."

"But what about Maddie? Didn't you need to talk to her?"

Rayna looked conflicted. "I knew Teddy was with her. I had to be sure I could get Deacon home. And that I could get Cole over there to be with him." She started to cry again. "He told me he'd never forgive me. That he didn't even know me." Tandy was silent. "And then when I went home, Maddie was furious and she left with Teddy. She wouldn't listen to me or talk to me."

Tandy squeezed her hand. "Sweetheart, you knew it was risky to get involved with him, because of that."

Rayna snatched her hand away, scowling angrily at her sister. "This coming from one of the people that told me all those years ago not to tell him at all. How dare you!" She stood up and turned towards the door.

Tandy jumped up and grabbed her arm. "Please don't go, Rayna. I'm sorry, but you know that's true. Did you think you would tell him at some point?"

"I don't know!" she shouted. "You and Teddy were both telling me I could never tell him. You just never thought about the fact that I still loved him."

"Sweetheart, neither of us thought you'd ever be in a position to get back together with him either." Tandy reached for Rayna's hand again. "I'm really not trying to hurt you, babe, but you had to know it would be a difficult situation."

"You know what, Tandy? I keep thinking now that I was wrong to have listened to you and to Teddy back then. What if I had just told Deacon the truth? What if I had done that and he had just stop drinking that very day?"

Tandy shook her head. "I was there. I saw what he was like."

"Maybe becoming a father would have been the thing that finally got rid of his demons." Rayna wrapped her arms around her waist.

"I don't think that's how addiction works." Tandy felt compassion for her sister, but she also felt that Rayna had made the only decision she could back then. "You wanted to make a better life for Maddie."

"Yeah, but what's a better life, really? Teddy and I are getting divorced and he's become someone I don't even recognize. Maddie's life's gonna be blown up. I mean, something got him to finally quit drinking. Why couldn't it have been her?"

Tandy walked over and put her arms around her sister. "Babe, there was no way to know. We didn't have a crystal ball we could look into. You had to make the best decisions you could at the time."

Rayna shrugged. "And yet now, here we are. Not where I would have wanted us to be." She stepped back from Tandy. "Listen, I need to go pick up Maddie. I don't know how that conversation's gonna go, but I have to try to reach her. I've given her some time to cool down, but I have to start the healing." She squeezed Tandy's arm. "Thanks for listening." Then she picked up her purse and walked out.

In spite of the fact that Coleman had told her not to come by Deacon's, Rayna couldn't help herself. She felt like if she didn't try to reach out, didn't try to let Deacon know she wasn't giving up, that he would think she was. When she got out of her car, she saw the two of them sitting on Deacon's front stoop. As she walked up the steps, Deacon saw her. She could see him scowl and then get up and hurry into the house, slamming the door behind him. She felt sick, watching that.

Coleman stood up as she approached. "Rayna, I told you not to come," he said.

Rayna frowned in spite of her tears. "I know you did, Cole, but I can't just stay away. I can't let him think that I'm walking away from this." She continued up the steps until she got to the porch, where Coleman grabbed her arm.

"Don't do this," he warned.

She shook him off. "I can't not do this," she said. She walked towards the front door and hesitated for a moment, then opened it and walked in. Deacon was in the kitchen and, when he saw her, he glared at her angrily.

"I don't want to talk to you, Rayna," he said, his tone icy.

She willed herself to be strong and she faced him defiantly. "I know you don't. But I have to say this to you. I just want to tell you not to do anything you'll regret. I know you're angry at me, but think about Maddie. One day you're gonna want to reach out to her or she'll reach out to you – just remember that before you take a step you'll regret."

"Get out of my house!" he yelled. His voice was angry, but his eyes were full of pain and hurt.

"Deacon, just please think about Maddie. About our daughter."

"I can't look at you! Get out!" He turned and walked out the back door, slamming it as he did.

Rayna stood there, trying to stay strong, but tears ran down her cheeks. He looks so wounded. What have I done? She flinched when Coleman walked up behind her and put his arm around her. She turned into him and wept on his shoulder, as he rubbed her back. Then he took her arm and walked her to the front door.

When they were back out on the porch, Coleman was gentle but firm. "Rayna, you can't do this again. You have to give him some space to process this. I know you want to fix it but you can't right now."

Rayna smiled sadly, thinking that Teddy had said something similar to her about Maddie. She nodded. "Okay. I won't push. But this can't go on forever. At some point, we're going to have to talk about it."

Coleman nodded. "Agreed. But not today. And not tomorrow. And maybe not even next week. You're going to have to be patient."

She nodded. "Okay. Thanks for looking out for him, Cole." She gave him a hug and then she walked slowly down the steps and out to her car.

On the drive over to Teddy's, Rayna worried that staying away from Deacon would backfire on her, but she decided she had to trust Coleman. For now, at least. But she had decided that she was going to fight for them, that she would do whatever she needed to do to get them through this. She wasn't going to give up on him just as she'd gotten him back.

When Teddy answered the door, she asked how Maddie was doing. "She's pretty quiet," Teddy said. "She's still pretty mad, Rayna." His tone wasn't unkind though.

"Did she say any more about why she was looking for stuff?"

Teddy shrugged. "Not really. I think she's just confused about things, as any teenager probably would be when their parents are getting a divorce. I know she didn't expect to find what she did."

Rayna sighed. "Can I see her? Will she see me?"

Teddy nodded. "Yeah, she will. I don't think she wants to stay mad at you. I think she's hurt and confused as much as anything." He pointed down the hall. "She's in the den. I'll give y'all some time alone."

Rayna smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Teddy. For everything." Teddy gave her a tight smile and then left her alone. She walked slowly down the hall and into the den. Maddie was sitting in a chair, looking both angry and forlorn. Rayna's heart ached, wishing Maddie was still a little girl that she could scoop up in her arms and rock. She walked over and sat opposite her daughter.

Maddie looked a little like she wanted to cry and she had her head bowed down and her arms crossed tightly across her chest. Rayna gave her a small smile and leaned towards her. "I know you're mad," she said, carefully.

Maddie sighed and said nothing for a moment. Then finally she said, "I am mad."

Rayna looked at her encouragingly. "I know. And I'm sorry. But I don't want you to be mad at me forever, 'cause we need each other. I married your dad because I loved him but I also married him because I wanted you to have a father that loved you as much as I do. And I love you more than anybody in the world and I'm never, ever gonna leave you." She watched Maddie carefully as she processed that and she could see that Maddie was rolling that over in her head, trying to decide how to respond. And then she got up and came to sit in Rayna's lap. Rayna wrapped her arms around her daughter and they cried together.

"I wish you had told me," she said finally, her voice small and wavering.

"I do too, sweet girl. That's the one thing I truly regret about all this. I never wanted to hurt you like that." She ran her hand over Maddie's back, much like she had when Maddie was a baby and she was trying to soothe her. "I want to tell you anything that you want to know. Do you want to ask me any questions?"

Maddie breathed in and out and then shook her head. "I'm not ready."

"Do you want to go home?" Rayna asked her.

Maddie nodded. "Yeah. I do." She got up off Rayna's lap and stood there, a little awkwardly, like she was unsure of her place.

Rayna got up and put an arm around her. "Let's go pick up your sister and go home. And when you're ready to talk more, just let me know, and I'll tell you whatever you want to know." She hugged her. "I love you, Maddie."

Maddie looked up at her. "I love you too."

They walked out of the den together and Rayna hoped it was the beginning of the healing process for the two of them.