Rayna Jaymes is sitting on his porch stairs, and he's sure his heart stops beating for a second.

Vince, who's in the driver's seat, has to reach over to open the passenger door and push him out of the truck. Deacon grabs his fishing rod and bag in the truck's bed, and he vaguely registers Vince mouthing a good luck before driving away. So much for the big plan they'd come up with while fishing.

He's surprised to find that his legs are still working, and so he takes a few steps until he's standing in front of Rayna. She pushes herself up to her feet.

"Hey," she starts.

"Hey."

"Catch anything?"

His eyes drop to the rod like he just remembered he's holding it. "Ah, no."

He's relieved to note she sounds as nervous as he is. He reckons he should be angry, or bitter, for obvious reasons, but all he can think about is how beautiful she looks and how many times he's imagined this moment in the last ten years and nine months.

"It's good to see you," she says, and he nods, with maybe a little too much enthusiasm, because yes, it is indeed so good to see her again. She scrunches her nose, and her lips curve into a smile. "But also a bit... surreal?"

"More than a bit."

He's about to ask if she wants to go inside, but she sits back down on the stairs, and so he puts the rod and bag on the ground and settles next to her.

"I'm not sure where to begin," she admits.

"With the elephant in the... front yard, I guess," he says, gesturing around. "Is it true? Is Maddie... mine?"

She nods, and he exhales a long, drawn-out breath. Not that he really had any doubt because everything was pointing to it, but hearing it from Rayna herself is another matter. She's staring at him, gauging his reaction, and he feels like it's a pivotal moment, one he isn't allowed to screw up.

"I'm so sorry I dropped her off like that yesterday. I just... I think I wasn't ready and—"

"No, I get it," she reassures him. "I'm the one who's sorry it happened like that. I'm not used to her lying to me, she's a good kid. She told me her friend's mom was supposed to pick them up after school."

"Is she okay?"

This makes Rayna smile. "Yeah, more than okay. She's over the moon. She keeps saying it's because of her wish that she found you."

She appears to be more composed, more guarded maybe, but for the most part she's the Rayna he remembers. It's strange to be sitting here next to her, after all these years. He doesn't want to ruin the moment, but he knows they're heading toward the more... painful part of this conversation. They can't avoid it.

"If she hadn't... found me, were you ever going to tell me?" he asks. She looks away, and he's got his answer. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was eighteen, Deacon. We'd spent maybe 24 hours together, total, and while it had felt like a dream, a beautiful dream, learning I was pregnant was a massive kick back into reality."

"We'd said we would contact each other when you would be back from your tour."

"I know, but when I came back, I already knew I was pregnant, and I... didn't know what to do. I was terrified. And then, you didn't try to contact me, and..." She looks at him, and he notices the crack in her voice when she asks, "Why didn't you try to contact me?"

"When I didn't hear from you, I thought that maybe I'd imagined this... thing between us." The truth is he was a mess back then, and it had been easier to believe his feelings weren't reciprocated rather than even consider that something as good as Rayna could happen to him.

It sounds all so silly now.

They'd both been waiting for the other to reach out. If one of them had, how different these last 10 years would have been

—

september 1989

—

"Kris Kristofferson or Johnny Cash?"

"Cash. Merle Haggard or Waylon Jennings?"

"It would be a dream of mine to go on tour with him, so I'm gonna say Merle."

"Oh, yeah."

Rayna grins, again, and he can't take his eyes off her. They've been stuck on top of this Ferris wheel for 10 minutes now, but he couldn't care less. Rayna doesn't seem to mind either. The George Strait show is supposed to start in 15 minutes, and he secretly hopes that whatever the problem with the wheel is, it won't be fixed by then.

"Tell me something about you," he says.

There's a long silence as she thinks about it. "Jaymes isn't my birth name."

He's intrigued. "Why did you change it?"

"My dad kicked me out of the house when I was sixteen, and I just... I didn't want to be associated with him anymore."

He, more than anyone, knows what it's like to have an asshole of a father. "I get it. I have a pretty shitty family too. What's your birth name then?" he asks. She smiles, and she pinches two fingers together that she sweeps across her mouth to indicate her lips are sealed. "Oh, come on," he pleads, "you have to tell me now."

"I'm going to keep a few of my secrets. Your turn."

"My turn?"

"To tell me something about you."

He doesn't have to think for too long. "Deacon is my middle name." Now she looks intrigued. "I needed a new start when I moved to Nashville last year, so I began to use Deacon instead of—" He purposefully doesn't finish his sentence, and she bursts out laughing.

"Fair enough," she concedes.

"Can I ask why you chose Jaymes?"

"It was my mom's maiden name," she explains. He can see she hesitates to continue. "She died six years ago. Car accident."

He wishes he hadn't asked now. "I'm sorry," he says. "Really."

She quickly wipes away her tears with the sleeves of her denim jacket and takes a deep breath. "I got my love of country music from her, so it sounded right to use her name."

"It's a great name. Definitely has star potential," he quips.

"Oh, yeah?" she asks, and he's happy to see he put a smile back on her face. "Can I be honest with you?"

"Of course."

"I hope they don't fix this thing, so we can watch the show from here."

"Oh, yeah, me too."

He wouldn't mind being forever stuck here, with her.

—

TBC