"Watty?"

"Kitchen!" she hears him shout.

She closes the front door behind her before she heads down the hall. She'd called earlier to ask if she could come by, and he'd ended up inviting her to lunch.

She finds him standing at the kitchen counter, chopping vegetables, and he puts the knife down to hug her. "Look what the cat dragged in."

"It's been three days, I needed to get out of the damn house."

"Good girl," he says, and she smiles at that.

"What can I do to help?" she asks.

"I've got everything under control, so you just sit and get comfortable."

She takes her jacket and scarf off, and she hops up on a chair on the other side of the counter. She has spent so much time in this house, it's like her second home. She even lived here for a few months when she was sixteen and Lamar had kicked her out of the Wyatt mansion.

"As a matter of fact," he reconsiders, "there is something you can do. You can put some music on," he says, pointing his knife at the kitchen table behind her. She frowns, not sure what he's up to. She jumps down the chair and when she gets closer to the table, she understands.

"Oh, you found it!"

"I did. I grabbed a copy for myself too."

She picks up the vinyl lying on the table. The cover is a photo of Deacon on an off-white background. He's wearing jeans and a black jacket, and he's standing next to his guitar case, one hand on top of the case. He's got his back to the camera, and when she turns the vinyl around, it's the same photo reversed so she can see his face. She smiles because it's so Deacon. No frills, only what's important, him and his guitar.

"You've listened to it yet?" she asks.

"No, I was waiting for you."

She takes the plastic wrap off, carefully, before she heads to the living room space. She pulls the record out of the sleeve and puts it on the turntable. She presses play.

She heads back to the kitchen counter, reading the tracklist on the back of the sleeve as the first notes ring out.

Deacon's voice fills the room, and that overwhelming happiness she's been feeling for the last few days is back full force.

Deacon and Scarlett had spent the last two evenings at her house. If Rayna had thought she and Deacon were the two people most content about the recent events, she'd changed her mind when Scarlett had arrived. The girl hadn't stopped talking. She'd told her all about the reporter at her school and how her classmates thought it was so cool Rayna Jaymes had come to her talent show and how her best friend Zoey had said she was the luckiest person on the entire planet.

When Scarlett wasn't looking, Deacon had leaned over and whispered into her ear, "Santa has come early for the Claybournes this year." He was back the next morning, alone, and he'd made sure to show her just how grateful he was for his gift.

Baby, you're the kind of trouble I could get into, Deacon is singing now, and she squirms in her chair, trying to stop the images from replaying in her head.

There's something she's been meaning to ask Watty, and now sounds as good of a time as any.

"Watty," she ventures, "when you recommended Deacon, did you think, I mean..."

He knows what she means. "You give me way too much credit. I had a feeling you and Deacon would make beautiful music together, that's all."

"Okay."

He clears his throat. "But if we're being honest here, I was, um, let's say puzzled as to your reasons for marrying Luke."

"You were?"

"He's a good guy, but it didn't feel like he was a guy for you. I've seen people trapped in unhappy marriages before, and I didn't want that for you." There's a pause, and it looks like Watty wants to say something more about that but decides against it.

"From the first time Deacon and I wrote together, something just... clicked. I wouldn't know how to explain it."

"That duet you did at the Bluebird, I hadn't seen that kind of chemistry in a long time."

It's exhilarating, but it's scary too, because she feels like she has no control over it.

"I think... I think I had lost touch with the music, with my life in a way, and now everything has fallen back into place."

She gets more emotional than she'd expected, and she has to hold back tears. Watty puts his hand over hers on the counter. "I think things happened just the way there were supposed to for you, Ray."

—

When Rayna arrives, Vince and Scarlett are waiting for her on a bench just outside the outdoor skating rink.

It's the school holidays, and since Deacon has a studio gig all day, Vince and Rayna are taking Scarlett ice skating. It was supposed to be Vince only, but then Scarlett had asked if she wanted to go.

Even if it probably wasn't the smartest idea, she'd said yes. First because she wanted to, and second because Vince hadn't struck her as the kind of guy to enjoy ice skating, so she was curious to see that.

It's been a few years since she last put skates on, and she's going to pray it's like riding a bike. She'd prefer not to draw attention. She put a beanie and aviators on in the hope it will make her less recognizable, but the odds are not in her favor.

"Rayna!" Scarlett shouts when she sees her, and somehow the odds get even worse.

She looks around, but it seems no one has been paying attention. "Hey, sweetie. You're ready for this?"

"Yes!"

"She is ready," Vince confirms, and Rayna can picture Scarlett jabbering on and on in Vince's truck all the way here.

He helps Scarlett tie her skates while Rayna puts on her own. She notices the rink is not too crowded, and she keeps her fingers crossed it will stay that way.

When she and Scarlett get up, Vince sits back down on the bench.

"You... don't skate?" Rayna asks, surprised.

"Oh no, I let the cupcake have fun while I hang around here."

Well, now it makes more sense, but there's no way she will let that happen today. "What? No, you can't wait here alone, you have to skate with us."

"Trust me, you don't want me to."

"Oh, I do want you to."

"I don't have skates."

Rayna points at the huge sign behind him. "You can rent some."

Scarlett is watching them like she's at a tennis match, her head turning back and forth between the two.

"What are the chances you're going to let this drop?"

Like everything Rayna sets her mind to, "None."

Vince sighs in defeat. "Alright." He smirks then, and Rayna is pretty sure he just pretends to be annoyed, but the whole thing amuses him.

—

"You know that at some point you're going to have to let go of the rail, right?" Rayna asks.

"No I won't, because, you see, it's going all the way round, that's the beauty of it."

Scarlett had tried to give Vince some tips at first, but after a while, she'd looked at him like he was a lost cause. She'd decided he was Rayna's problem now, and she'd left to go skate around the rink by herself.

"What about we take a break?" Rayna suggests.

"Now you're talking."

She'd meant outside the rink, but he just stays right where he is on the ice with his back to the rail. She chuckles as she moves to go stand next to him.

There's a huge clock just above them, and when she glances at it, something occurs to her. "It's 3pm," she remarks.

Vince waits for her to elaborate, but she never does. "I'm going to need more information here."

"It's December 21st," she explains. "I was supposed to get married today. Right about now actually."

"Oh." There's a silence between them. "See, on one hand, I'm really happy for you and Deacon, but on the other, if you had gotten married, I wouldn't have to be here wearing these—"

"Oh, come on," she laughs, "you're enjoying yourself, admit it." She bumps his shoulder, and it almost makes him lose his balance. He grabs hold of the rail to steady himself. "Sorry," she apologizes.

"Your smile's too big for someone who's sorry."

"I do smile a lot these days," she confesses.

"Deacon too, it's almost creepy."

Knowing that, her smile gets even bigger. She has spent almost all of her time with him since the day she got back from Denver, and she still misses him when he's not there. Which reminds her there's something she needs to talk to Vince about.

"Deacon told me y'all had plans to spend Christmas Eve at Adria's, and he invited me to join, but I wanted to check with you and Adria first. I don't want to impose."

Vince doesn't hesitate. "It's no trouble at all. You're welcome to join."

It's when an idea starts to form in Rayna's head. A crazy idea.

"Or..."

"Or what?"

"Do you think it would be crazy if—" She stops, because clearly, it is crazy.

"Go on."

"Do you think you guys would be okay to come to my house? I could invite my sister and my brother-in-law, Watty, Bucky and Linda too."

She tries to imagine Tandy, Richard and Vince in the same room. She thinks how it's both a recipe for disaster and something she definitely wants to see.

"Christmas at the Rayna Jaymes house? I'm in. And I'm sure Adria will be too. Scar!" he calls, and the girl skates in their direction. "Do you want to spend Christmas at Rayna's house?"

"Yes!" There's a pause, and she tilts her head to one side. "You're going to need a tree."

Rayna chuckles. "I can probably take care of that."

Vince waits until Scarlett has left again before he asks, "So... you have a sister?"

—

TBC