“Nashville” Season 3 episode 7 returned to ABC after a one week hiatus, but about two months passed for the musicians. Rayna (Connie Britton) and Luke (Will Chase) hadn’t seen each other at all in that time, but they finally had a weekend together. Unfortunately, a Rolling Stone interview ruins their reunion. Rayna knew the interview would be a bit more invasive than she was used to, but she certainly didn’t expect Maddie (Lennon Stella) to ruin everything.

Rolling Stone reporter Brett (Anthony Ruvivar) was following Rayna on what was supposed to be her weekend off in Nashville. Luke wasn’t happy, but he had to accept it. Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) was even angrier because she hadn’t heard from Rayna in weeks.

“If you have time for press, you damn well better have time for me,” Juliette said just after Rayna met Brett.

Inside of Rayna’s office, Rayna told Juliette that her latest songs weren’t great. Juliette revealed that she couldn’t write with Avery (Jonathan Jackson.) She couldn’t do much at all with him and she felt like “a vessel” for the baby. Rayna explained that she needed to put that in a song and write from the heart.

While Rayna stepped away, Brett called Deacon (Charles Esten) to find out more about his history with Rayna. “It’s not a story I want to tell,” he said before he hung up.

The reporter continued to step on toes throughout the weekend. He went with Luke and Rayna to a cake tasting, but he kept Rayna too busy with questions to actually allow her to taste wedding cakes. He also invited himself to their home, much to Luke’s dismay. As Rayna and Luke were showing him around, they walked in on Luke’s son Colt (Keenan Johnson) and Rayna’s daughter Maddie making out. Apparently it wasn’t just house parties that they were hiding from their parents.

Rayna explained to Maddie that she needed to stop seeing Colt in a romantic way. Maddie claimed she couldn’t stop her feelings, but Rayna made it clear that once the world found out she was kissing her stepbrother, she wouldn’t feel that way. Maddie had already experienced one article being written about her style, and Rayna knew she wouldn’t be able to handle attention on her personal life.

Rayna asked Brett to leave her kids out of the story. She explained that she was okay with being transparent, but her kids never agreed to that. Brett claimed he just had to go with that angle. He needed a real story that no one else had, but Rayna offered him something even better.

“What if I give you a different story?” Rayna asked. “What if I give you the story of Deacon Claybourne?”

He asked her if she’d still be with Deacon if he hadn’t relapsed last season, and Rayna’s demeanor changed. The interview looked painful for her. It was clearly still a sore subject, but viewers didn’t get to hear her answer.

Rayna went home on the verge of tears. Luke thanked her for keeping his son out of the story, but he doesn’t know what Rayna talked about to protect the kids. He might not be so happy when he discovers Rayna’s cover story is about Deacon.

Elsewhere in the episode, Will (Chris Carmack) and Layla (Aubrey Peebles) saw each other for the first time in two months as their reality show premiered. They were upset with how they were portrayed. Layla looked stupid while Will was just a sex symbol. However, they were finally getting along.

Juliette and Avery also worked out a few issues. Avery decided that he wanted to be in the room with Juliette while she gave birth, after Emily (Kourtney Hansen) gave him a push. Avery seemed genuinely concerned about her, and it might just indicate a happily-ever-after for those two.

Gunnar (Sam Palladio) also seemed to be dealing with his newfound parenthood pretty well—a little too well, apparently. Zoe (Chaley Rose) was annoyed that Kylie (Alexa PenaVega) was always late when picking up Micah (Gunnar Sizemore) and started relying on Gunnar to drop whatever he was doing to be there. After Gunnar explained that she needed to stick to her word, Kylie actually left Nashville. It turned out her latest boyfriend wouldn’t accept her with a kid, so she left Micah with Gunnar.

“I can’t lose him Gunnar…You are so much better a father than I ever was a mom. Please just tell him I love him okay?” she said on the phone.

She didn’t appear to have any plans to see her son again. Gunnar said he didn’t mind the occasional weekend and a couple afternoons a week with his son, but he’ll probably have an issue with suddenly being a full-time dad.

“Nashville” Season 3 airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST on ABC. How do you think Luke will react to the Rolling Stone story? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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