"What about this one?" Rayna asks.
She's standing in front of the full-length mirror while Tandy is sitting on the bed next to a growing pile of rejected dresses.
"It's fine, like the previous, what now," Tandy says, looking at the pile, "seven ones you already tried on?"
"You're not being helpful, sis."
"Honey, just pick one. It's Deacon we're talking about. If we go by precedent, you're not going to keep this dress on for very long anyway." Rayna feigns outrage, but her sister just cackles, sounding pleased with herself. "Why are you so nervous?" she asks.
Rayna isn't even sure. It's Deacon. She has no real reason to be. But she hasn't done a lot of dating during these last ten years. She's more used to one-night stands or short flings, and most often while she's on tour so she can use the excuse that what happens on the road, stays on the road. Most importantly, none of them has ever met Maddie.
"I don't want to screw this up," Rayna admits.
"But you wouldn't be against screwing him."
"Remind me again why I asked you to come over?"
—
september 1989
—
"Earth to Rayna."
"Sorry, what?"
Adria's sitting next to her in the back of the van while the guys are in the front seats. Most of the time, it's Sam or Josh driving. It's not that Rayna doesn't volunteer to drive, but the others insist they would like to finish this tour alive.
They're playing bars and small venues, and Rayna doubts there will be much money left once they'll have covered all the expenses, but she doesn't care. She's doing what she loves. With people she loves. She doesn't think there's a better feeling in the world.
Well, she didn't think there was a better feeling in the world until she met a certain Deacon Claybourne yesterday. Because that was pretty damn close.
"I've never seen you like this," Adria says.
"Like what?"
"I don't know, you look... smitten."
"I'm not smitten."
"Oh, yeah, you are," Josh chimes in from the driver's seat.
The guys love to claim they don't listen to the girls talk, but no one can have real privacy in this van.
"Who uses that word anyway?"
"Fair enough, then I'll say you're infatuated," Adria jokes.
"Enamored," Sam pitches in.
"Lovestruck," Josh singsongs.
Rayna laughs. "Alright, guys, I think I got the general idea. And for the record, I'm none of these."
Her bandmates exchange knowing looks. Maybe they would be more inclined to believe her if she didn't grin like an idiot every time Deacon's name is mentioned. She hasn't been able to stop thinking about him all day. She'd spent so much time wandering aimlessly through the aisles of the last gas station they'd stopped in that Adria had felt the need to go back inside to check in on her.
"You've planned to see each other again?" her best friend asks, handing her the bag of chips they're sharing.
"As soon as I'll get back."
Rayna is excited about the tour, but those five weeks are going to feel like an eternity now.
—
present day
—
The bowling alley isn't much crowded. They picked the last lane at the far end, and since the next two lanes aren't currently used, they're quite removed from the rest of the bowlers.
The great thing about Nashville is that people rarely bother her. Once in while, someone approaches her for an autograph or a picture, but they're usually respectful and she's happy to oblige.
Still, tonight, she doesn't mind the relative privacy.
She finds it funny, in retrospect, that she spent half an hour trying to pick the perfect dress when she's now wearing bowling shoes.
Deacon pretends to help her, which is really just an excuse to wrap his arms around her, and she has no complaint about it. He's talking about angles and putting it in that pocket, and she thinks he could give Tandy a run for her money with the double entendres.
"Your turn, baby. You've got this."
The baby part is all new. Again, she has no complaint.
She's not sure if he's letting her win or if she's rather lucky tonight, but the score on the screen says Tanya is kicking Merle's ass. It's Deacon who chose the names, and she knows it's a throwback to the outlaw game they'd played while stuck on the Ferris wheel all those years ago.
She remembers every little thing about that day. She loves that he does too.
—
september 1989
—
She doesn't want him to leave.
It's ridiculous, really, because they'll see each other again in five weeks. Still, she wishes they didn't have to say goodbye for now. She wishes he could just hop in the van with them.
She knows there was a before meeting Deacon Claybourne and there will be an after meeting Deacon Claybourne. Her life has been forever changed because he's now part of it.
She's supposed to meet with her bandmates in five minutes and he's heading back to Nashville, and so they hug one last time on the motel parking lot. One of them will have to let go, but for now, they're holding tight onto each other.
She's got a photo booth strip of them and a napkin with a song he wrote for her safely tucked in the back pocket of her denim skirt, and it will have to be enough until they see each other again.
"Ray," he whispers into her ear.
"I know," she says.
She knows, but it doesn't make it easier.
—
present day
—
"You just wanted to quit because I was winning."
He chuckles against her lips. He's got her pressed against the wall behind the bowling alley, and he likes to think that, at this very moment, they're both winning.
He kisses her again while his hand slides under the hem of her dress. The moan she lets out next only encourages him to slide it further up.
"Deacon," she tries to speak, "I think we... need to... stop."
He pulls back. For a brief moment, he wonders if he's been misinterpreting the signs. He sees her smile, though, and his doubts dissolve on the spot.
"I mean, we should take this... somewhere else," she clarifies.
He smirks. "Where do you want to go?"
"Well, I was thinking, since Maddie's spending the night at Tal—"
"Okay," he says, and she laughs at the fact he didn't even let her finish.
He grabs her hand and they hurry across the parking lot, both of them grinning like idiots all the way to his truck.
—
"Mom?"
The voice sounds faraway, and as Rayna rouses from sleep, she first thinks she dreamed it.
"Mom!" the voice calls again.
This time, Rayna wakes up with a jolt. She looks at the clock on the nightstand. It's 9:18 am, Maddie wasn't supposed to come back from Talia's until later today.
"Crap." Rayna turns over and shakes Deacon's shoulder, trying to wake him up. "Babe!"
He opens his eyes, and his smile is immediate. If she wasn't in a state of complete panic, she would find it adorable. "Hey, baby," he purrs.
"You need to hide!"
"Wha—"
Before he has time to realize what's happening, she has pushed him over the edge of the bed. She hears a loud thud and a curse, and she gets up to grab the silk bathrobe on the chair next to the bed. She has just finished tying the belt when Maddie bursts into the bedroom.
Her daughter looks confused. "You were still sleeping?"
"Yeah, I, uh... What are you doing here? You were supposed to stay at Talia's until this afternoon."
"I wanted to know how it went with Dad, so I asked Talia's mom to drive me home."
"It went," Rayna starts, and she can't help her huge smile, "great, really great." She almost glances at the bed but refrains just in time.
Maddie brightens up. "Yeah?"
"Yeah, sweetheart."
"Where did you go? What did you do?" She pauses. "Did he kiss you?"
"Ooookay, what about you let Mama get her coffee before she answers all your questions?"
Rayna puts her hands on her daughter's shoulders and turns her around, gently leading her out of the room. Before she closes the door behind her, she sees Deacon's head pop out from behind the bed, and she tries to mouth a quick apology.
—
It's a good 40 minutes before Rayna comes back to the bedroom.
She has an ensuite bathroom, and so Deacon has time to shower, get dressed and read the first 20 pages of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He finds the book on Rayna's nightstand. Maddie has been talking about it non-stop for the last week, and he assumes Rayna is reading it because of her. He decides he needs to get a copy himself to be able to talk about it with his daughter.
Harry is waking up from a dream, the scar on his forehead burning beneath his fingers, when the door of the bedroom opens up. For a second, Deacon wonders if he's supposed to duck behind the bed again.
Rayna — only Rayna — appears in the doorway. She scrunches her face. "I may have panicked."
He laughs. "I figured."
"How mad are you?" she asks, closing the door behind her and going to sit on the bed next to him. He doesn't answer, instead he kisses her.
"I'm not mad, I'm relieved. I wasn't ready to explain this," he says, gesturing around, "to our daughter. What did you tell her?"
"That it went great. That I beat the crap out of you at bowl—"
"Hey! What? It's not how I remember it."
"I guess we'll have to do this again to settle it, then."
"Oh, we're definitely doing this again."
She grins. "We are?"
"Oh, yeah."
"Well, until then, Maddie asked me if we could invite you over for lunch today. So, this is me asking you."
"I'd love that."
"Good." She smiles. "Now we just need to find a way to get you out of here so you can... come back."
—
TBC