res·ur·rec·tion

noun

1.

the act of rising from the dead.

2.

( initial capital letter ) the rising of Christ after His death and burial.

3.

( initial capital letter ) the rising of the dead on Judgment Day.

4.

the state of those risen from the dead.

5.

a rising again, as from decay, disuse, etc.; revival.

Chapter 1 – PawPaw Died Today

##

My grandfather died today.

Deacon looked down at his phone, reading the text from Maddie. He quickly scanned his phone for any other messages before switching over to call Maddie.

"Deacon?" she asked, sounding like she had been crying.

"Sweetheart, I just got your text. How-"

Maddie cuts him off. "Can you come over?" she asks, quietly sniffling.

"Of course," he says, a bit awkwardly. "I'll be there in a few minutes. You're at home? Is anyone there with you?"

"We're home. It's just me and Daphne. Mom is upstairs, but she's really upset. I've never seen her like this. Aunt Tandy left a little while ago. She just walked out."

"I'm on my way. I'll be there in a few minutes." Deacon stared at his phone for a few seconds before grabbing his jacket and calling Megan as he walked to his car.

"Hey. I'm real sorry. I'm not going to be able to meet you for dinner. Maddie just called me. Lamar Wyatt's dead."

##

Megan had just hung up the phone and was staring down at the stacks of paperwork on her desk as Mayor Conrad knocked on the door.

"Hey," She said after inviting him in to her office.

"Hey. I thought I should come by. I just found out Lamar Wyatt died. He apparently had another heart attack. I figured you would need to know right away. This will impact the case."

"This is going to impact a lot of things. Was anyone with him when he had his heart attack?"

"Apparently Rayna was. I spoke to her a little while ago. She said she confronted him about the gunman."

"Is she okay?"

"She sounded okay. She said Tandy was coming over to discuss the arrangements for his funeral and she was going to spend the night in with the girls."

Megan nodded. She didn't mention that Deacon was heading over to see Maddie. She still felt the need to protect their father daughter time. She knew how important that was to him, and she was on his side when it came to Maddie. At the same time, she suddenly found herself feeling lonely and in need of a dinner date.

"Well, I guess I need to take another look at this case, and I have some things I'd like to pick your brain about. Any interest in joining me for take-out?"

##

Maddie is waiting at the door when Deacon pulls up and Deacon rushes over to meet her.

"Thanks for coming over," she says to her father, looking relieved that he's there.

"Hey, darlin', let's get you inside. Iit's cold out here." Deacon wraps an arm around her and they head into the house. Daphne walks over when she sees him, saying hello and giving him a small hug around his waist.

"I'm so sorry about your Pawpaw," he says soothingly. "Are you two doin' okay? Where's your mama?"

"She's upstairs," Daphne tells him. "She said she'd be down in a little while, but I think she's crying."

"Well, she's probably real sad right about now, but I'm sure she'll be okay. Why don't we go sit down and I'll hang out with you girls for a bit."

"Thank you," Maddie says, and she starts sobbing, sitting down on the couch, elbows on knees, her face buried in her hands.

"It's okay, Maddie," Daphne tells her, sitting down next to her sister and rubbing her back.

"Daphne, can you go and get me some tissues?"

"Sure. I'll be right back."

Once Daphne leaves the room, Maddie tells Deacon "I was trying not to cry in front of Daphne, but I think there is more going on with Mom. Aunt Tandy just left, and she looked upset. And I heard her and mom arguing before that. Mom told her to get out. She said she was just like PawPaw and they were both liars who played games with people's lives. Is that true? I know Mom was mad at him a lot, but was he a bad person? I miss him."

Deacon wraps his arms around Maddie, gently stroking the back of her head to soothe her as Daphne returns with the tissues. He lets her tears soak his shirt as he reaches for Daphne's hand from where she is sitting on the table in front of them.

"Sometimes people say things that don't make much sense when they're hurt or upset. Your mama will be okay. And I know it won't bring your PawPaw back, but I want you to know, I love you girls both so much. I'm here for you both, if you want to talk about him, or just sit here together. I know you girls meant the world to him."

"We just saw him. He was so happy to be home. We had dinner together."

"We sang him a song with Mom," Daphne adds matter-of-factly. "He said it was the best song he's ever heard. And he said he liked the cards we made him while he was away."

"I bet he loved all of it."

Daphne gets up and moves to sit next to Deacon. He puts his other arm around her and they sit quietly for a while.

"You know, I wasn't much older than you, Maddie, when I first met Lamar."

"Really? Did he like you?"

Deacon grins, remembering the first time he'd made Lamar's acquaintance. Lamar had kicked Rayna out of the house 3 days prior, and she'd been sleeping at his place while Deacon bunked on the sofa. Deacon was one of Rayna's only friends that had his own place, and she hadn't wanted to stay with anyone's parents. Deacon had been passed out after far too many shots of whiskey. It was near 3 am when Lamar knocked on the door. He had asked Lamar "who the hell" he was before telling him Rayna was asleep in his bed and didn't want to speak to the man. Not wanting to share this with the girls, he instead said "we didn't exactly hit it off right away, but, you know, he actually helped the band out quite a bit over the years. I'm not sure your mother was even aware of that. And he used to check in with me when we were on the road on tour. A lot of times she wasn't talking to him, and while I don't think he liked me much, he knew I'd look after her. That man would do anything for his family."

"I guess you're a lot alike in that way," Maddie says, looking up at him.

He looks down into her brown eyes and smiles. "I guess we are." With that, he pulls her closer and presses a kiss on the top of her head.

##

Maddie and Daphne have cheered up a bit and are sharing some of their favorite memories of their grandfather with Deacon when Rayna softly walks into the room.

"Deacon!" Her eyes light up from beneath her depths of sadness.

Deacon walks over to her. In a soft voice he says, "Hey, Rayna. Maddie called me. She asked me to come over." Rayna gives him a polite smile, then looks away, distraught. "Ray, I'm so sorry about your dad." She nods, fighting hard to keep herself together. Deacon reaches out placing his hands gently on her arms. "Are you okay?"

Looking more lost then he's ever seen her, she struggles to shake her head. "No," escapes her lips before she completely breaks down. Deacon wraps her up in his arms as she cries. "He tried to kill Teddy," she whispers, so only he can hear. "He killed my mama!" With that, her legs give out and he guides her to a kitchen chair. Deacon has never seen her look so broken before.

Rayna takes a deep breath and pulls away from him suddenly. "I know you're here for Maddie but-"

The look in her eyes tells him how much she needs him. He cuts off her sentence. "Ray, I'm here for all three of you. I will ALWAYS be here for you. You don't need to save yourself all the time."

Tears start pouring out again and she buries her head into his chest. "I'm so sorry, Deacon. I'm so sorry for everything."

"Shhh...It's okay. "He looks down at her. "Why don't you go be with your girls and let me make y'all some dinner," she nods, looking very much like the innocent 16 year old he fell in love with so very long ago. "Then later, you tell me whatever you want to tell me...about your dad...about Tandy…"

Her eyes widen, but she nods again. "Thank you. I'd like that."

He walks her over to the sofa and Maddie makes room for her between herself and her sister. Maddie puts her arm around Rayna.

"How 'bout a little breakfast for dinner, girls?"

"Brinner!" Daphne says enthusiastically. "Can I help?"

##

Thank you all for reading this. I hope this wasn't too boring. Just setting things up for the next chapter! Reviews, suggestions, feedback are all welcome and appreciated! Stay tuned!

Special thanks to Nashville 1211 for her suggestions!