Deacon’s prognosis doesn’t look good, but at least his love life does. Rayna (Connie Britton) came back into Deacon’s (Charles Esten) life in “Nashville” Season 3, episode 16. After Deacon told her about his cancer in episode 15, she wasn’t leaving his side. However, the guitarist didn’t want her to stay.

The episode picked up right where it left off in Deacon’s kitchen. Rayna apologized for slapping him, and Deacon apologized for having cancer. “All I ever wanted was to be strong for you, to be well, and I’m not,” Deacon said.

Deacon explained that the only option left was to wait for a transplant. Rayna said she’d wait with him, but Deacon told her he couldn’t have her by his side. He put her through tons of pain when he struggled with alcohol, and he wouldn’t have her pity now that he had liver cancer.

Rayna decided to stick around the house even though Deacon didn’t want her there. He claimed that nothing mattered anymore, so Rayna decided to test that theory. She smashed one of his guitars. He told her that she could break them all. The songstress tried to tell him that he could be the man that he has always wanted to be, and she could finally be by his side. Deacon claimed it wasn’t that simple.

“What are you afraid of? Do you not believe in us enough?” Rayna asked. Deacon’s silence was enough of an answer. “Well, if you were trying to break my heart, you just did,” she said.

Deacon asked about Maddie (Lennon Stella). He didn’t want her to know about his disease. He said that if he didn’t make it through this, it would be better for her if she didn’t know. Rayna told him he was wrong about everything.

“You might die, but if you do, I would rather have us be together, the way we were always meant to be, for as long as possible,” Rayna said. “And if something horrible happens, well then I’d rather my girls have the opportunity to see what true love looks like.”

She asked him to stop fighting her and start fighting for their relationship. She said they had to seize the opportunity to be together, and Deacon finally kissed her. They had sex, and as the reunited couple cuddled by the fire, Rayna assured him that they could get through everything together.

Deacon’s niece Scarlett (Clare Bowen) had her own struggles to overcome. The Triple X’s were opening for Rascal Flatts. It was a great opportunity, but the last time Scarlett was in Chicago, she had a nervous breakdown. The band’s Twitter followers made it clear that they remembered Scarlett’s history. She decided to interact with some of the nastier personalities on the Internet. Scarlett ended up sitting in front of the computer for hours as she tried to respond to people who accused her of being crazy. Gunnar (Sam Palladio) and Avery (Jonathan Jackson) pulled her away and said the best way to make them listen was through song, not social media.

Before the show, Gunnar held Scarlett’s hand and told her that he’d be by her side onstage if she just gave him a look. Scarlett went onstage and told the audience that she was a different person today. She sang her song and danced around the stage with ease -- a far cry from when she was hiding under the piano last year.

After the show, Scarlett was in the middle of telling Gunnar how she couldn’t have done anything without him, but she was interrupted by a surprise appearance from her new boyfriend Caleb (Nick Jandl). Gunnar looked disappointed as her new beau stole her attention. Caleb told Scarlett that he got his own room and while Scarlett was welcome to stay there, he had no expectations.

Gunnar complained to Avery about Caleb and claimed they didn’t know him well enough. Avery saw right through him. “If you want to get back together with her, you should probably act fast,” Avery said. Gunnar tried to go to her room that night, but she was already in Caleb’s room.

Will (Chris Carmack) was still in Nashville and working on some great songs with Kevin (Kyle Dean Massey), but the songwriter wanted to end their collaboration. He sensed that Will was uncomfortable with him. The closeted singer let Kevin go, but he had a lot of trouble writing on his own.

He even turned to his ex-wife Layla (Aubrey Peeples) for help, but she said they couldn’t write about something that wasn’t real. She asked Will if he’d ever been in love, and he said he hadn’t. Will went back to Kevin and claimed that Kevin understood things about him. He didn’t directly come out, but Kevin seemed to realize that Will’s discomfort definitely wasn’t because he didn’t like gay guys.

Layla had her own career to worry about. She was hungover, but Jeff (Oliver Hudson) scheduled her for an interview. He said the interviewer was an old friend, but she was clearly a former fling. Layla ended up walking out of the interview when she felt like the reporter and her manager were flirting too much.

Jeff followed her out and explained that they never dated. He and the reporter were just “satisfying each other’s needs.” Layla wanted to know if that’s all their relationship was too. Jeff said that it was all he could give her.

Teddy (Eric Close) had his own romantic problems. He used one of Lamar’s old private investigators to find out if Natasha (Moniqua Plante) was really being investigated. He met Natasha under a bridge and revealed that the federal government was looking into her as well as several other hookers.

The prostitute said that if it came down to it, she would be willing to tell the feds anything they wanted in order to cut a deal, even if it hurt Teddy. She suggested that she could disappear for a while, but Teddy would have to give her a couple hundred thousand dollars. He said he didn’t have that kind of money.

The mayor tried to blackmail Jeff (Oliver Hudson) for the money, but Jeff pointed out that he had nothing to lose. Teddy viciously told Jeff that he had nothing because he cared about no one.

Teddy tried to go to the city’s financial director and claimed that he wanted to set up a discretionary fund to renovate an abandoned factory. The director said it would take six months, and Teddy asked if they could skip protocol. The director sensed something was off and decided to leave. Teddy sent his private investigator to find some of the director’s secrets.

After the confrontation with Teddy, Jeff showed up at Layla’s house to tell her he wanted to try a real relationship. Once they were in bed together, Layla realized that she was making the same mistake she made with Will. She was attempting to change a guy. Jeff claimed he was trying to change and develop real feelings for her. “That’s just the thing. You should have to try to love someone,” Layla said.

Elsewhere, Luke (Will Chase) was working in the same studio as Sadie (Laura Benanti). She walked in on him recording a ballad and said the track would be better with two voices. He asked Sadie to record the track with him, but the singer said she couldn’t. After all, she is one of Rayna’s artists. Luke asked her to coffee instead.

The two had a chat about their personal lives, and they seemed to be into each other. However, Sadie didn’t want Luke to walk her to her car. She didn’t think it was a good idea. They left with a handshake, but she probably should’ve taken him up on that offer to walk her to her vehicle.

Pete (Jay Wilkison) was waiting for her in the parking lot. He said she wouldn’t be able to get away with publicly declaring that he was abusive. She pulled out her gun and he tried to take it away from her. They ended up in a struggle over the weapon and Pete got shot. Luke pulled up as she was standing over Pete’s body with the gun in her hand.

“Nashville” Season 3 airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EDT on ABC. Are you happy that Rayna and Deacon got back together? Will they stay together? Sound off in the comments section below!

RELATED STORIES