Deacon
It was a long drive to Nashville. A little more than halfway there, they stopped at a roadside motel for the night. It was not a fancy place, but it was clean and comfortable. They checked in and then went to a diner the desk clerk had recommended. It was cold outside but at least it wasn't snowing. There was still a little snow left from a storm that had come through several days earlier.
"We only got 4½, maybe 5 hours tomorrow and we'll be there," he said. "We got a few days to start dropping off demos before your show at Douglas Corner."
She smiled. "I appreciate your setting up those shows. I hope it helps."
"We got you set up in all the best places around town. Even the Bluebird."
She was still smiling. "I can't believe I'm actually gonna perform at the Bluebird. That's always been a dream of mine, but I wasn't able to do it since I didn't write songs."
"And now you do."
She nodded. "Yeah, I do. All because of you."
He shrugged. "I just showed you how to do it. You were the one who wrote the songs."
"Well, I wouldn't have known what to do if it wasn't for you." Just then their food came and they focused on eating for a few minutes. Then she looked at him. "Do you have anything planned while we're there? I mean, for you."
"Yeah. I got a writing session with one of the guys I write with a lot. And then an appointment at the publishing house with some new writers. But none of it'll keep me from backing you up."
"I just wanna be sure you aren't giving up all your time for me."
He shook his head. "I'm not. Don't worry." He cleared his throat. "So where are we staying?"
"Um, my place. Over near the West End."
"Okay. Well, when we get there we can figure out where we're going and in what order."
She took a deep breath. "We're really doing this?"
He smirked and nodded. "We're really doing this. Are you ready to take over Nashville?"
She laughed. "I don't know if I'm gonna be doing that, but I'm actually kind of excited that we have a plan. And I have you to thank for it all."
He shook his head. "All I did was help you figure out this is what you wanted to do all along. I just get to be there when it all works out."
He had really thought he'd never go back to Nashville or at least not for a very long time. But he hadn't figured on meeting Rayna Jaymes and falling in love. Now he just wanted to be there to help her live her dream.
Rayna
The next morning she woke up to the sun filling the room. Deacon was lying on his back next to her, although they weren't touching. She took advantage of the fact that she was awake to gaze at him. When he was asleep, he always looked like he was at peace. In the time that she'd known him she had seen him open himself up. She sensed from the things he told her that he had some demons that chased him at times. His childhood, his relationship to his father, the death of his friend and his insistence on self-blame for that. She could hear some of that in his music and while many of his songs were filled with sadness or loneliness, they were still beautiful. She loved writing with him, loved the nuance and depth he could give to both the lyrics and the melodies. He'd taught her so much and she was proud that 2 of the songs on the demo were songs they'd written together.
He'd changed her life too. She'd grown up with great privilege, but it had also been an emptier life than many would have guessed. Her mother was gone, her father had all but abandoned her, and then he had turned her out of her own home simply because she chose a different path for her life. She felt sure that he had hoped losing her record deal would have, once and for all, turned her back towards that privileged life and what it would offer her in the way of opportunities. It wasn't what she'd wanted though. She had known, even as she had tried to navigate what was next, that she wouldn't go backwards. She might have had to find something else – and still might – but she wanted something different. She'd found that with Deacon.
She reached out and put her hand on his chest and he woke with a start. She slid closer to him, her skin against his. "I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear.
He turned his head towards her and smiled, a sleepy smile. "S'okay," he murmured. He put his hand over hers.
She felt a little curl of heat in her stomach. He'd made love to her twice the night before and the memory of how he'd made her feel gave her a heavy feeling between her legs. It didn't seem to matter if the lovemaking was slow and sensuous or it was rough and steamy, he knew how to please her and, without being immodest, she knew she satisfied him as well. "We don't have to leave right away, do we?" she asked.
He smiled, his eyes twinkling, and he rolled onto his side facing her. He leaned towards her and kissed her as he first touched her between her legs and then slid 2 fingers inside her. She moaned and almost unconsciously lifted her leg to drape over his. She opened her mouth to his, kissing him deeply, chasing his tongue with her own as his fingers slowly swirled inside her. He pulled his lips away, a sensual smile on his face. "Mm, no we don't," he said. She slid a little closer to him and felt his hardness against her stomach.
She wanted him inside her, but he didn't seem to want to stop what he was doing so she let herself just enjoy the feelings of what he was doing to her. She felt her orgasm building slowly and began to move her hips. It felt so good. Then suddenly he moved his hand and, grabbing her by the waist, he pulled her on top of him as he rolled onto his back. "Oh!" she said as she straddled him, taking him inside her. She put her hands on his shoulders as she started to move her hips. He palmed her breasts, letting his thumbs brush over her nipples. Then she suddenly came, hard and fast, gasping with the sensations. He slid his hands down over her hips and cupped her ass as he thrust into her over and over until he groaned loudly, letting himself go.
She was still leaning over him, her hands on his shoulders, and they were both breathing hard. He smiled. "Good stress relief?" he asked between pants.
She laughed. "Oh yeah." She moved off of him and rolled onto her back. She turned to look at him. "Are you ready for this? Going back to Nashville?"
He breathed in deeply and then let it out slowly. "I think so." She reached for his hand and he threaded his fingers in hers.
"Any place you need to… go?"
He shook his head. "He was buried back where he's from. Oklahoma. So no, nowhere."
"You'll let me know if it's too much?"
He smiled sadly. "It's gonna be fine. We got a lot going on while we're there. And we're just there for 4 weeks."
"Okay." She rolled towards him and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm gonna take a shower." She smiled. "You wanna join me?"
He smiled back. "I could be talked into it." She laughed and then rolled over and got out of the bed, heading for the bathroom. After a second, he followed behind her.
Deacon
They were driving past Cookeville when he felt a little bit of anxiety creep in. They were about an hour and a half from Nashville. He glanced over at Rayna. She was asleep, her head leaning against the window. He wouldn't need to wake her before they reached the city limits. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm the flutters in his stomach and his heart. It had been a while since he'd last had a panic attack. In fact the last time had been right after Vince died and it had been yet another reason he'd left for home. Being in his own house, without the closeness of the memories, had helped. He still missed his friend, still felt at least partially responsible, but he'd spent most of his time working on staying sober. It had been a real wakeup call, an alarm bell going off telling him he was heading towards fulfilling his father's prophecy for him, even if he wasn't all the way there.
He'd gone to AA meetings when he'd gotten back to the beach, at first several times a week. Then it stretched out to every week and every other week and now it was just when he felt he needed it. Rayna had put his focus on something else and he hadn't felt the need for a meeting or the desire to drink. He wasn't foolish enough to think he didn't – or wouldn't – still need support, but he'd felt more in control over the past several months. Even before Rayna had come into his life. But now he was going back to Nashville and he wasn't sure how that was going to go.
He kept deep breathing, concentrating on staying calm.
They had just passed Lebanon when Rayna woke up. She looked around. "Where are we?" she asked, sounding a little groggy.
"Not too far now. Maybe 25, 30 minutes out."
She stretched a little. "Okay." She sighed.
"You okay?"
She looked at him. "Yeah. I guess just a little nervous maybe." She smiled. "And it feels a little strange to be going back home, to be honest. Or what used to be home. I've gotten so used to your place at the beach."
"It's different, for sure." She turned and looked out the side window and he wondered what she was thinking. This could be a real turning point for her. And for them. They hadn't talked at all about what happened if things went well and if she generated some interest. There wasn't a strict timeframe on how long they'd stay in Nashville, although they'd planned for 4 weeks. He'd gotten her lined up for a number of dates at various places around town over the next month. Beyond that, it was hard to say. He was nervous too, about coming back and what it would be like.
They got off the highway near downtown Nashville and headed west. As he drove farther out he knew they were headed towards the area with the high dollar homes and wealthy families, which shouldn't have been a surprise, he didn't guess. He turned where Rayna told him to and then she directed him into a small private parking lot next to a building that looked like it was a condo building. It was brick and looked old and weathered, although it was obviously still well maintained. When he parked, they got out and he walked around the front of the truck and met her there.
She looked at him. "Don't be fooled by this. For some reason my mom had a small condo here and after she died we found out she'd left it to Tandy and me. Tandy lived here for a few years and when she got married she gave it to me. I could never afford something like this."
He put his arm around her. "It's okay. It's nice that you had somewhere to live."
"Yeah. When Daddy kicked me out, I had to live in this awful studio apartment over in East Nashville. It was not in the best neighborhood, so I think that's why Tandy wanted me to live here." He pulled her close and kissed her on the forehead as she wrapped her arms around him. "So, let's get settled in." He let her go and she took his hand, leading him into a courtyard in the middle of several buildings. They walked across the grass and then she let them into one of the buildings. They walked up one flight of steps. Off the landing she put her key into one of the doors and opened it, walking in.
He followed her, closing the door behind him. He looked around. They'd walked into a small open foyer that led into a living room. The furnishings were fairly ornate, he thought, not as comfortable as he was used to. He felt a little out of place. Maybe a lot out of place. "It's nice," he said.
She gave him a side eye smile. "It's not how I would have decorated but all of this is my mom's."
He smiled. "Seems like she had good taste."
She laughed softly. "I guess." She took his hand. "Let me show you around." It wasn't a large place but it had a decent kitchen and a spacious bedroom with bathroom.
"Why'd your mom have this place?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I don't know. Tandy said she'd had it for about 10 years, but she didn't know why either. Maybe she thought she'd need it if she left my father, but I don't know. And she never brought either one of us here. I don't know if Daddy even knew about it until after she died." She paused. "Maybe we should get our bags." He nodded and they went back out and brought up everything they'd brought with them. He took their bags and put them in the bedroom, leaving his guitar in the living room. When he set it down, he noticed a piano he hadn't seen at first. Then he joined Rayna in the kitchen, where she had the fridge open. She smiled. "Looks like Tandy came and stocked up." He could see that the fridge was full.
He smiled. "That was nice of her."
"I want you to meet her. I've told her about you."
"You haven't told me much about her."
She took 2 bottled waters out of the fridge and, handing one to him, she led him into the living room, where they sat on the couch. She pulled her legs up underneath her and turned towards him. "Tandy's 4 years older than me, although she acts more like she's twenty four years older than me. She did all the things Daddy wanted – went to college, then got her master's degree, and now she works for him at his company. I guess one day when he retires or dies she'll take it over." She rolled her eyes. "She's married, to a guy she met in graduate school, but I can't tell if she's happy or not. She's just so serious all the time. But she's always been my best friend. It was just the 2 of us for a few years, with Mom gone and Daddy never home. And I think she's always tried to protect me, although I don't know from what. Not to mention I don't need protecting."
He smiled. "Did she think you shouldn't have tried music?"
"I don't think so. She's always been supportive, although I suppose she could've been doing it because she thought Mom would have. But she's never tried to discourage me, so there's that."
"Sounds like she cares about you a lot."
"She does."
"And what does she think about this? Us?"
She smirked. "Well, I'd like to think she's reserving judgment until she meets you. But she worries. And she doesn't want me to get hurt." She paused. "I guess I sort of feel like when I left for the beach I was kind of leaving her too. She's always seen me as a dreamer, I think, and maybe she thinks I don't make the best decisions. But we're different. She goes with her head and I go with my heart. It's tough for her to let me go. And I needed space from everyone. I needed to figure out what I wanted to do, not what someone else thought I should do."
He pulled her closer. "I ain't gonna hurt you."
She looked at him and smiled. "I know. And she'll see that too." She then rested her head against his shoulder. "So, what's the plan for tomorrow?"
"We'll drive around to the bigger labels tomorrow and drop off a demo for their top A&R guy. Then the next day we'll go around to some of the smaller labels, the ones that would be more likely to have an interest and do the same thing. 'Cept for Belcourt."
"You really don't want to go by there?"
"I want you to get a really good deal and then they'll know what they missed out on."
She sat up and looked at him. "You know that if they hadn't dropped me I would probably not have been at the beach and wouldn't have met you."
"Yeah, I know. Still, I think you're meant for something better."
She settled back against his shoulder. He believed that too. When he had picked up the demos, Colin had told him that he thought someone in Nashville was going to want to sign her. I can't believe they couldn't find the right music for her. Sounds like they didn't try hard enough. "Tell me about when you came to Nashville. Originally," she asked.
Rayna
"I grew up listening to country music. That's what my parents always had on the radio or the record player. And I had all these ideas for songs and I'd write 'em down. Me and Beverly would go play at places up and down the coast, mostly to get out of the house."
"I didn't know Beverly sang."
"Yeah. She's actually pretty good but she just wanted to get married." He sighed. "Things were getting bad at home and I decided I'd try my hand at doing music in Nashville."
"You told me your father left right before you went."
"Yeah. I needed to get away though, you know? So I went anyway. Lived in my truck when I first got there. Tried to play music anywhere I could. Did some sets on Broadway and at places outside of Nashville. Got a job on a production line so I had some money coming in and then I got a studio apartment north of town."
"Did you play at the Bluebird?"
"I did. Several times for open mic nights."
"I never got to do that because I wasn't a songwriter." That had been such a disappointment. She had gone to listen and had always wished she could perform there.
"Well, you will now, so better late than never."
"How did you get hooked up with the songwriters you know?"
"Sometimes I'd meet 'em when I was playing somewhere and then they'd introduce me to other people and I'd get invited to sit in on some writing sessions. When I got my publishing deal that opened the door to a lot of writers."
"You wanted to be an artist though, didn't you?"
He nodded. "That was my plan, but it never worked out. I got songs put on hold pretty quickly though, so I was okay with that. I've done pretty well."
She sat up and turned slightly so she could face him. "I'd say you have," she said with a smile.
"All things considered, it's worked out for me. Songwriting is probably my sweet spot anyway."
"So, tell me about your girlfriend. The one who made you leave Nashville."
He laughed. "She didn't make me leave Nashville. A lot of the reason I did that was 'cause Bev needed me."
"Well, tell me anyway. What was her name?"
"Samantha."
"What did she look like?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. Dark hair, average height, pretty."
"Was she in the music business?"
"Nah. She worked lunch shift at a diner and then she waited tables at the Bluebird at night. That's how I met her." He shook his head. "So why are we talking about her?" He grinned.
She smiled. "Well, I'm curious about who had your heart before me."
He raised his eyebrows. "That's been quite a while ago."
"You can tell me about your other girlfriends then."
He laughed. "No other girlfriends." He leaned towards her and kissed her. "Not til you." He looked at her mischievously. "Now it's your turn. This off and on guy. The guy you were gonna marry. What about him?"
She waved her hand. "It wasn't a big deal."
"It don't really sound like that's true. You said yes."
She sighed deeply. "Haven't you ever felt like you were just going along with something you thought you were supposed to do? That's what it felt like. I really liked him but in the end it didn't feel right. Then when I met you, I knew what it was supposed to feel like."
He grinned. "Okay, I can see that. So what was his name?"
"Teddy."
"What did he look like?"
She gave him a side eye. "Are you copying me?"
He chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."
She shook her head and smirked. "Dark hair, about your height, preppy."
He looked surprised. "I wouldn't have expected you to go for preppy."
"I know." She leaned forward and kissed him. "My type is the kind of guy who wears flannel shirts and jeans and boots and is musically talented." She laughed. "You."
"Was he in the music industry?"
"Oh, god, no. Business guy. The kind who wears a suit every day and khakis and Ralph Lauren casual shirts on weekends. And polished shoes."
He pulled her onto his lap and she squealed. "Sounds like we both dodged a bullet, huh?"
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. When she pulled away, she leaned her forehead against his. "I could never see myself with anyone but you," she murmured. "I found exactly what I was looking for with you." He kissed her and then leaned her back against the arm of the couch, moving himself to lay on top of her. She ran her hands up his back and then let her fingers tug at the hair on the back of his neck. His hands slid up to grasp her just below her breasts as he continued to kiss her, rubbing himself against her in a way that got her aroused. She lifted her pelvis against him, feeling his own arousal. She moaned and he did as well. He finally let go of her mouth and raised his head to look at her. She was breathless, looking into his eyes, seeing all his emotions there. He got up then and, taking her hand, lifted her up with him. Then they walked back to the bedroom.
This is everything I would have dreamed of if I'd known what to dream of, she thought. This man is perfect for me and it's amazing to me that he got put right in front of me when I really needed him.
Deacon
He looked over his shoulder at her as she wandered into the kitchen. He had gotten up early and made coffee and was now working on eggs and bacon. "Hey," he said. "Coffee's ready." She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, leaning against his back.
"I see you found everything," she said.
"Took me a minute, but yeah." He'd already set the little table in the kitchen. "If you'll bring me those plates, I'll fill 'em up." She let him go and then was back a few seconds later, hovering by his elbow, with the plates. He turned off the stove and scraped eggs from the skillet onto each plate, then added bacon. She took them back while he poured coffee, bringing that over.
She sat down and smiled. "Thanks, babe," she said. She reached for the sweetener and added it to her coffee. She seemed to be focusing on the coffee and her plate and he frowned.
"You okay?" he asked.
She looked up. "Yeah."
"You seem a little… quiet, I guess."
She shrugged. "Just thinking about today." She took a deep breath and let it out. "We're dropping off those demo CD's and I just keep thinking it might all be for nothing."
"Why would it be for nothing? You gotta think positive, Rayna. You got a great demo to hand out and they're songs you wrote or co-wrote."
"But what if they think 'why's that girl back trying again after we told her no'. They might not even listen."
He sighed. "It's possible someone won't listen, but it won't be because they're wondering why you're back. They see too many artists to remember everyone. But what we're hoping for is that they'll be interested enough to give it a listen and then some still may pass, but it only takes 1 to change everything."
"I'm just anxious. I hope you're right and it all works out, but it's hard to not worry."
He reached for her hand. "I know. But let's not think the worst just yet, okay?" He smiled encouragingly.
She smiled back and nodded. "Okay."
There was a knock at the door. One that seemed authoritative, if that was possible for a knock. He looked at the door, then at her. "You expecting someone?"
She shook her head. "No. I guess it could be Tandy, but she would have called first, I'm sure." The knock came again, more insistent this time. She got up and walked out of the kitchen and he heard her open the door. There was a pause. "Daddy," she said. He got up and walked to the door, where he could see her and the older man standing in the doorway, his reptilian eyes flicking over towards him and a cold smile on his lips. He didn't know this man at all but based on what Rayna had told him he felt instantly protective of her. He also sensed that she probably didn't need it, but he'd do it anyway. He stepped out into the living room. She turned and looked at him.
Rayna's father stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He looked over to his daughter. "So you are here," he said in a dismissive tone. "It's unfortunate I had to find out from your sister."
She leveled her gaze at him. "I didn't owe you any notification, Daddy. I am on my own, you know."
He raised his eyebrows and smiled again, that same cold smile. "Oh, I realize that. But we're still family, Rayna, even though you think changing your name allows you to deny that." Her father turned to him then. "And I see you brought a guest with you." The way he emphasized guest was condescending.
She glared at her father. "This is Deacon. I met him at the beach." She paused for a second. "And we're together. Not that it's really any of your business."
The other man walked slowly towards him, every step obviously intended to demonstrate his authority and superiority. "Deacon. So this is who you choose to spend your time with now?"
Rayna walked over to the two of them. "That's right, Daddy."
"I'm sure Deacon can speak for himself, Rayna." The smile was calculating. "And just what do you do, Deacon? And why are you here?"
He wasn't afraid of the older man – his own father had been more overtly terrifying – but he could see that Rayna's father wasn't inclined to like him. "I'm here with Rayna, like she said. Supporting her."
"She wouldn't need to be supported if she'd take a different path."
He smirked at the other man. "I'm supporting the path she's on."
The insincere smile dropped from Rayna's father's face. Then he turned to Rayna. "There's no shame in admitting you made the wrong choices."
Rayna opened her mouth to say something, but he couldn't let it go. "She didn't make the wrong choice," he said angrily. "Just because someone don't appreciate what she offers don't mean she shouldn't keep trying."
The snide smile was back. "At some point, she needs to realize that she's played this all out to its conclusion long ago. But I guess if you've been encouraging her, you can deal with the fallout," he said.
Rayna was standing with her arms stiffly by her side, fists clenched, fire in her eyes. "Please leave, Daddy," she said, her voice low and fiery. "And don't come here again." Her father just smiled, then left the way he came. She made an angry noise and turned towards him. "You see? He's always been like that. Never supporting me." He stepped towards her and put his arms around her. "Who does that?" she said. He could hear both the anger and the hurt in her voice. "What kind of father does that?"
"I know, baby. I know," he whispered.
Rayna
She fell asleep in the truck on the way back to the condo. When Deacon parked in the parking lot, she bolted awake. "Oh," she said as she looked around, feeling momentarily disoriented.
"You okay, baby?" he asked, looking concerned.
She shook her head, like she was trying to dislodge cobwebs. "Yeah, sure," she said. "Yeah." She looked out the window. "Did I fall asleep?"
He nodded. "You did. But you weren't asleep long. Just about 10 minutes maybe."
She sat back against the headrest. It wasn't like it had been a tiring day physically, but mentally she supposed she had on edge. They'd gone to multiple labels, and she'd gone in and provided her submission, which included a letter about who she was and what she was submitting along with the demo. Deacon had done most of the research and knew who most of the A&R heads were so the submissions were targeted to them. All but one of the labels had taken it, but one advised her to mail it in, which she would do. These were the big guns – Sony, Warner, Universal, and the like. The next day they would start on the mid to small labels. The submissions also included a list of dates she was scheduled at various venues around town in case they wanted a little more. "Do you really think this will work?" she asked, feeling a little dejected.
"I do," he said. "We gotta think positive. You gotta believe in yourself."
She felt like he might be getting annoyed with her. He didn't sound like it, but she could hear the tiredness in her voice, and she could feel her insecurities creeping back in. "It's hard," she said.
He sighed. "I know. But if you don't believe you can do this, it'll never happen." He grabbed her hand. "It don't happen very often that someone just gets discovered. I know you know that. I know you probably didn't have a great catalog of songs to showcase, but you do now. Or at least you're getting there. It's easy to give up. It's harder to keep fighting. But I think you're a fighter."
"Sometimes I wonder," she said.
He sighed again, but this time he sounded frustrated. "So you don't want to fight? You don't want to live your dream? We came all the way back here so you could give up?"
She glared at him. She felt the anger bubble up inside and threaten to spill over. So she got out of the truck and slammed the door shut, stomping through the parking lot towards the building. She heard Deacon get out of the truck behind her and then he grabbed her arm. She whipped around. "What?" she cried.
"Why are you so sure you'll fail?" he asked. "Is it because your father thinks you already have? Do you actually believe what he says to you?"
She just looked at him. She didn't want to admit that her father could still rattle her confidence. She had long since stopped caring about him but he was still her father and the fact that he wasn't proud of her, didn't support or encourage her dreams, stung. Tandy was the favored child, but she'd done everything right. Or at least the way Lamar Wyatt thought was right. College, graduate school, joined the family business and was succeeding, promotions and increased responsibility. Maybe if she was like Tandy things would be different. But she wasn't Tandy, never would be Tandy. She couldn't help but wonder if her father's problem with her was because she was too much like her mom.
Right now though Deacon was standing in front of her, asking questions she didn't want to answer. Didn't even want to think about the answers to. She could feel the tears rising up and the lump in her throat and she didn't want to cry in front of him. So she turned and ran towards the building, tears blinding her as she hurried up to the condo and slammed the door behind her.
She was standing in the kitchen, her back to the door, when she heard the front door open and close. His footsteps were muffled against the carpet but then more pronounced when he walked up behind her. She could feel him standing there. When his hands encircled her arms, she involuntarily flinched just a little. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't've said all that."
"No, you shouldn't have," she said. "But you weren't completely wrong." She turned to face him. "I have never lived up to my father's expectations. I always knew I wasn't made that way, but it was hard not to live up to my own expectations and then have to listen to him tell me I was a screw up." She lifted one shoulder. "Maybe he didn't say it that way, but I knew he was disappointed in me. He never understood why I wanted to take the path I did and never tried to understand. I think the hardest part was that it actually didn't make sense why he was so opposed. He was horrible about it. Meanspirited even. Almost like it was personal somehow. Like I was deliberately embarrassing him or something."
"You ever asked him why he felt like that?"
"I did once but he told me it didn't matter why, just that I was throwing my life away on a dream that would never come true." She sighed. "I couldn't help but wonder. I mean, I'm 24 years old. I've been at this really since I was 16. It just feels like maybe Daddy was right all along."
"You've heard this is a 10 year town, right?"
She shook her head. "No. what's that?"
"It means it takes most people 10 years to make it here. Lots of people don't wait that long. And it don't mean everyone makes it at 10 years. But it takes time. This ain't an easy place to find your way."
"You did."
"Yeah, but I was writing songs. And I got lucky in some ways, meeting up with people who could help me. Maybe if you'd known you could write it would have happened sooner for you too. But now you know you can and you got a nice start to a catalog. Give yourself some time."
"10 more years?"
He smiled and shook his head. "I don't think you need 10 more years. But we just got back here, baby. We been here just a couple days and you still have all these shows to do. Let's see what happens. And don't listen to your father. He don't know nothing." He kissed her on the forehead. "Think about what you wrote in your song. 'Some will burn out, some will burn bright. Some learn to fly, some will run for their lives, in this town.' You're gonna burn bright, baby, I just know it. Believe in yourself and don't let your daddy screw that up for you by getting in your head."
She took a deep breath. "Okay," she said. "I'll try. I promise."
Deacon
They'd been in Nashville a week. He'd spent the day with a couple of the guys he liked to write with, coming out of it with a single song they all thought was pretty good. Rayna had spent the day with her sister and she seemed to be in good spirits when he got back to the condo. She was performing that night at Douglas Corner, and she was looking forward to it. He had agreed to play guitar for her and provide backing vocals when she needed them. She had a 7 song set, which included a song she'd performed in the past, a Dottie West favorite called A Lesson in Leavin'.
He walked in the door. "Hey, baby, I'm home," he called out. He set down his guitar and started to walk towards the bedroom. When he got there, he saw her standing in front of a full length mirror.
"Hey," she said. She turned towards him. "This look okay?" She was wearing jeans that hugged her body in all the right ways along with a light green sweater and boots. Her hair fell softly over her shoulders in curls and waves, and she was wearing a pair of earrings that sparkled in the light.
He smiled. "You look beautiful."
"It's not too casual?"
"Douglas Corner's not a fancy place."
"I know. I just don't want to look like I'm trying too hard."
He pulled her close and kissed her. "You couldn't look like that if you tried." He smiled again. "You look perfect. You ready for this?"
She took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm ready."
She had fidgeted all the way to the venue. He'd tried talking to her, but she was clearly in her head. It was a fairly short drive however, so he left her to her thoughts. It wasn't that she'd never sung at a place like this before, or even at this particular place. She had. She'd performed at nearly every place in the greater Nashville area – and even beyond – multiple times in the years she'd been trying to make a name for herself. But he knew it felt to her like this was her last chance. He didn't think that was necessarily true, but he sensed she was at the end of whatever road she'd seen herself on. She had the tools she needed – a great voice, great stage presence, and her own music – to make the jump. The truth was that it really wasn't in her control. Someone had to see her or hear her and decide she was worth taking a chance on. The fact that someone had once gave him hope that with her own music she'd get found again. They'd rehearsed for hours and he knew she was comfortable with the music they were doing. He just wanted her to show that onstage.
When they arrived at the building, he parked and they got out. He grabbed his guitar and then took her hand as they walked in. She checked in and found out she'd be up 3rd, which could be a good thing or a bad thing. It gave her time to relax and listen to other performers, but it also could mean she'd tense up and get nervous. He got them both a root beer and they settled into a 2-top at the back of the room.
It was a weekday, middle of the week actually, but there was a good crowd there that night. It wasn't packed out, but every seat was filled and the patrons seemed to be welcoming and enthusiastic about the talent there that night. It was a new artist night, even though Rayna wasn't exactly a new artist, but the term normally applied to anyone who didn't have a recording contract and was looking for one. The first artist was a young man who had a well-groomed appearance and a surprisingly good voice. He had written his own songs, he'd shared, and while they were decent, they could have used some polish on both the lyrics and the music. The second act was a female duo – two sisters he thought they said – and again they were good but not great and their music was very vanilla.
They were wrapping up when he looked over at Rayna. She was sitting on the edge of her chair and looked like she was getting a little anxious. He leaned towards her. "You ready, baby?" he said softly. She looked at him and nodded. He smiled encouragingly. "Let's go." They got up and he took her hand as they walked to the front of the venue and onto the stage.
The emcee smiled as they approached and watched them get set up on the stage. Then she turned to the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, next we have a Nashville native, Rayna Jaymes. We're sure you're gonna like her." There was a good round of applause and he could see Rayna take a deep breath, her hands clasped in front of her. She looked around and then quickly back at him. He smiled and she did as well. Then she turned back.
"Hey, y'all," she said. He could hear a little shakiness in her voice but that went away as she went on. "I'm excited to be here tonight. This isn't my first time at Douglas Corner, but I haven't been here in a while. I'm here with my guitar player, Deacon Claybourne, who's also a co-writer on some of my songs." She gestured towards him. "We're gonna start with a song we wrote called Maybe I Don't Mind. Hope you like it."
