"They sounded so good together."

All the guys have left, it's just her and Watty in the studio now. He's perched on a stool, and she's sitting on the couch, the boots she kicked off a moment ago lying under the coffee table. She's been waiting all afternoon for them to be alone so she could tell him about last night.

"How's the little songbird feeling about all this?"

"She's calling him Dad already, this gives you a good idea."

"How are you feeling about all this?"

She's been trying to answer this question for herself, but she hasn't come up with a clear answer yet. "Happy because Maddie seems happy." There's a beat. "Scared because it means allowing a stranger into our lives."

Even if it feels weird to call Deacon a stranger, it's what he is. He assured her he's put his life back together, but she can only take his word for it. It's always been her and Maddie, her and Maddie against the world, and the mere idea of having to co-parent scares the hell out of her.

And there's this... thing between her and Deacon. This connection they'd shared the first time they'd met. It's a little terrifying that it seems to have endured all this time, ready to resurface as soon as she would see him again. She doesn't know what to do with that.

"I just... I wasn't prepared," Rayna admits.

Watty lets out a little laugh. "The kiddo took us all by surprise here. But you knew that, at some point, your answers weren't going to be enough for her anymore, right? It was bound to happen, one way or another. Blood is thicker than water."

Watty had been the one, back then, who'd tried to convince her to tell Deacon. He'd been uncharacteristically insistent about it. It had almost felt like it was personal to him, but she'd never gotten around to asking him why. There are parts of his life Watty White doesn't like to talk about.

"What are you going to do now?" he asks.

"Just... let things unfold the way they are meant to, I suppose."

They decide to take it slow.

He sees Maddie two or three times a week at first. Sometimes it's for a guitar lesson, sometimes they go out for ice cream or they take a walk in the park.

Rayna's coming with them every time. She agreed he and Maddie should spend time together, but she's not yet ready to leave her daughter alone with him. He doesn't mind. In fact, he's relieved. Maddie is a great kid, but he knows next to nothing about children and even less about raising a child of his own.

The first time he comes over for a guitar lesson, they settle in the living room. Rayna tries to pretend she doesn't spy on them, but she takes at least five trips to the kitchen during the first 15 minutes. Even Maddie notices it.

"Mom," she complains, "we're fine."

"I know, baby. I was just... checking."

Maddie turns out to be a quick learner. Another thing he can't say he's surprised about. Her guitar looks old, pretty banged up, and she explains it had belonged to her grandmother who had given it to her mom who then had given it to her. There's obvious pride in her voice when she tells him it's the first guitar her mom ever tried to play, and now it belongs to her.

He remembers Rayna had talked about her late mom when they'd first met, and it makes him think about his own. He hasn't told her or Beverly yet about Maddie. He knows Beverly is going to be furious that he kept this from her, but he doesn't want his sister to show up in Nashville and ruin this thing for him. Because he knows it's what would happen.

He's afraid if Rayna ever meets Beverly, she might decide to never let him see Maddie again. He couldn't blame her.

Maddie asks him a lot of questions. She's mostly curious about where he's been and what he's done these last ten years. Some questions he tries to answer and some he has to dodge. It's not that he doesn't want to be honest, but there are things from his past he doesn't know how to explain to a 10-year-old.

april 1999

On the day he drives back to Nashville, it almost feels like nothing has changed. He's got the same truck, same guitar, same three bags in the bed of the truck.

There's one thing, though, one significant thing that has changed; there's a 6-month sobriety chip tucked in the inside pocket of his guitar case, and he wants to believe it's what's going to make all the difference.

He'd called Vince a few days ago to announce he was moving back and to ask if he could crash at his place while he would try to find one of his own. The answer had been a resounding yes.

And so here he is, on his way to a town that had once held all his hopes and dreams.

He's not even officially in Nashville yet when he sees it, the huge billboard on the side of the road with her face on it. Rayna's face. The billboard is advertising her latest album, the one everyone says is on path to earn her another number one.

He's not surprised she made it. He'd seen firsthand all those years ago how wildly talented she was, how she owned the stage, how she had the crowd in the palm of her hand. He is surprised, though, that it took her so long. It was only three years ago that he'd started to hear her songs on the radio and read her name in the press. He'd thought her career would have taken off sooner.

It has occured to him that going back to Nashville means there's a chance their paths might cross again at some point, but he's trying not to think too much about that.

He's going to focus on himself and his sobriety and his music, and, God willing, he won't screw this up a second time.

present day

A whole month goes by before, one afternoon, he gets a call from Rayna asking if he could come over that evening. She has some event to attend, and she's wondering if he could look after Maddie while she'll be out.

When he arrives, Maddie is waiting behind the door — at this point, he would be surprised if she wasn't waiting behind the door every time he comes over — and as soon as he's inside the house, she calls her mom.

"Goodness gracious, I'm here, no need to yell." Rayna appears, wearing a gorgeous silver dress which falls about mid-thigh. His eyes linger on her legs a few seconds too long for her not to notice.

She clears her throat. "Maddie wants us to take pictures before I go," she says. It's only then that he spots the Polaroid camera his daughter is holding.

Maddie leads them to the living room, and she hands the camera to her mom. Rayna takes one of him and Maddie first, and after the picture has popped out, the girl explains she wants him to take one of the three of them together.

He does his best while holding the camera at arm's length, but when the picture starts to appear, he can see he's cut off half of Rayna's face and his forehead is out of the frame. He's managed to capture Maddie's beaming face between them, though, and his daughter seems happy with the result.

She grabs the camera and the two pictures, and she runs upstairs. She's already out of sight when she yells, "Don't come up!"

"It's for her big surprise project," Rayna explains, drawing air quotes with her fingers. She sounds amused.

"I guess I'll... wait down here then."

They share a smile before she glances at the clock. "Crap, I'm late," she curses, yet she doesn't seem too eager to leave. A ringtone sounds out, and she fishes for her flip phone inside the purse on the coffee table. "Buck," she sighs after she's read the name. "He's probably waiting outside." She doesn't answer the call, but she heads to the door to put her high heels on. "The fridge is full, help yourself. It may be a while before the kiddo gets back downstairs."

She takes one last look at him, visibly torn as to whether leave or go tell Bucky she can't go. "We'll be alright," he promises. "Have fun tonight, you look... amazing."

She gives him one bright smile in return. "Thanks." There's a long loaded pause. "Hey, I wanted to say... I'm really happy you're here."

He can't be sure if she means tonight or in general, but he hopes for the latter.

It's been 15 minutes since Rayna left, and Deacon doesn't know what to do with himself. He has opened the fridge three times already, even though he's not really hungry. He has turned the TV on only to turn it off a few seconds later. He has almost called Maddie twice.

He finally decides to settle on the couch.

He fiddles with his fingers for a moment before he spots the notepad on the coffee table. There are a few lines scribbled at the top and a pen lying next to it, like someone was in the middle of writing and got interrupted. He doesn't want to snoop, and so he refrains at first, but curiosity wins over. He leans over to read.

If all our dreams are just wishes
If every wish needs a star
If all an ending really needs is a brand new beginning

It sounds like the start of a song. It's the handwriting of an adult, and so he assumes it's Rayna's. He gets up to grab the guitar in the corner of the room, the one he'd used the first time he was here.

He tries out a few melodies until he finds one that could work with the lyrics. Without thinking, he picks up the pen and adds one line under the few existing ones.

All love needs is a willing heart

It's only after he's finished writing that he realizes he shouldn't have done that. It isn't his song. It isn't his house. He starts to panic. He used a pen, so he can't erase the line. He can't rip off the page and throw it away either, surely Rayna would notice.

Of course, it's the moment Maddie chooses to run back downstairs. He quickly puts the guitar back on its stand and the pen back next to the notepad before Maddie bursts into the living room.

She proudly hands him two frames which hold the photos they took earlier. She has painted the frames, glued some of his guitar picks, and she has sprinkled a good dose of glitter all over it. At the bottom of the frame, with wooden letters, she has formed the word Dad.

He can see she's gauging his reaction, and so he pulls her into a hug. "Thanks, sweetie," he says, "I love it."

"What were you doing?" she asks then.

"Nothing," he's too quick to reply. "What do you want to do now?"

"We could play cards," she offers. She doesn't wait for an answer and goes to retrieve a deck of cards from one of the kitchen drawers.

"Let's go on the patio," he suggests. Anywhere but here where the notepad is mocking him.

It's a little after eleven when Rayna gets back home. The house is eerily quiet, which means Maddie didn't manage to sweet talk Deacon into letting her stay up past her bedtime.

She kicks her heels off, leaves her purse on the hallway dresser before she heads to the living room. She finds Deacon passed out on the couch, snoring lightly, and she bursts out laughing. She approches him, nudges his shoulder to wake him up. It takes him a few seconds to remember where he is.

"Rough night?" she jokes.

"Getting one's ass kicked at Go Fish is exhausting. How was your night?"

She drops onto the couch next to him. "A lot of small talk, a lot of smiling for the photographers and a lot of free champagne." She sighs. "It's less fun when it's not your number one's party."

"I wouldn't know that."

There's a silence after that, and she remembers there's something she wants to ask him. "I heard..." She hesitates. Maybe it's none of her business. "I heard something tonight, and I wanted to ask you about it."

"Sure."

"Doug Weaver from Tupelo Creek was at the party. I overheard him and another guy talk about... you. Doug was saying they'd tried to sign you as a solo artist, but you'd turned them down?"

"It's true."

"Did you get a better offer?"

"No, I... the timing wasn't right."

She frowns. She doesn't understand. This town is full of people who would kill to get an offer like this. "Why?"

"Because here, in Nashville, is where I want to be right now. I don't want to have to go on tour and be out of town for weeks. I want to be here for Maddie and for—" He stops himself.

She knows he was going to say you. She reaches for his hand. "Thank you," are the only words she manages to get out, but there's so much more she wants to say.

So much more.

TBC