The moon cast a silver glow into the Ewing family sitting room, where four of the six members sat in an uncomfortable silence. Lucy Ewing sat sprawled on the sofa, casually reading a gossip magazine she had picked up as an impulse that afternoon. John Ross sat on the floor of the room, playing with his favorite model train, as his mother kept a watchful eye on him from her perch in the armchair. J.R. stood by the bar, fixing himself his second drink.
"It's too damn quiet in here," J.R. muttered.
"Probably because Bobby isn't home," Lucy added absentmindedly. "He's been with Jenna and Charlie every night this week."
"At least she's an improvement over his first wife."
"J.R.!" Sue Ellen scolded with a frustrated glare. "Pamela and Bobby have been divorced for four months."
"And they were married for six years too long," he finished.
"Don't you have some work to do?" Lucy asked with an unhappy glare.
J.R. stared at his niece. "Actually I think it's time to get John Ross to bed." J.R. bent down to take his son's hand and Sue Ellen followed him up the stairs. Lucy watched them leave and returned to her reading.
John Ross settled into his bed with one parent on either side of him. "I miss Christopher."
"We all do," Sue Ellen said kneeling next to her son.
"You can see him on the weekends when Bobby brings him home," J.R. said.
"But he's always with Jenna and Charlie – he doesn't spend time with me."
Sue Ellen smiled and ran her fingers through her son's hair. "You still have all of your friends from camp."
"Peter," John Ross grinned boyishly.
"Yes, Peter," Sue Ellen smiled; taking her son's little hand. She was referring to Peter Richards, John Ross' camp counselor at Windsor Meadows and new friend. He had approached John Ross on his very first day, and now one month later a strong bond had been formed.
J.R. cleared his throat – not enjoying talking about Peter. It wasn't that J.R. held any particular animosity towards the man, but he was somewhat jealous of the all of the time that John Ross spent with him during the afternoon. J.R. knew it was his own doing, he had put business before his son, and it had gotten to the point where John Ross was seeing more of Peter than his own father.
J.R. became suspicious of Peter after hearing Sue Ellen confide to Lucy about how wonderful he was. She spoke of him with such admiration that it angered J.R. to the core. It was admiration and praise once only reserved for him, which he hadn't heard from her in the longest time.
He knew that it was his own fault that Sue Ellen had been cold towards him. His one night mistake with Holly Harwood threw away almost a year of fidelity between the two, a second marriage that was going to be a fresh start for both of them. After the ten years of hell they had been through together, they both worked extra hard to make the second time work. He had involved her in many of his business dealings, including television spots, and he confided in her at the end of the day when he was tired from Ewing Oil. She allied with him when his mother Ellie had attempted to override Jock's will, saying he was not of sound mind, and she openly defended him to any family member that spoke ill of him.
She would have done anything for me, believed anything for me, J.R. muttered as his wife sat and talked with their son. I don't think she would have believed I had cheated unless she saw it with her own eyes. Which she did. Sue Ellen had gone to Holly Harwood's house with the intention of seeing her and proving her wrong about J.R. Holly had spent weeks orchestrating her revenge over his controlling business tactics that were forcing her to lose money and lose control over her father's company – the one that he had left her. Holly had decided that to get rid of a snake, she would need to act like one, and she began to drop hints to Sue Ellen that her husband was having an affair with her. Sue Ellen had remained strong in her faith to J.R., chalking Holly's words to jealousy and spite. Holly laid all of her cards on the table for one evening – she called Sue Ellen, saying that she was meeting J.R. for another night together, and that she could see for herself that her husband was cheating. Sue Ellen took Holly's offer, convinced that J.R. was true to her. She ignored the lipstick smothered collars, the late nights he spent away from the office, his distance from her. She refused to believe that he would break their marriage vows again – after months of wooing her with flowers and attention. Yet she found herself to be in the same vicious cycle from which she once escaped – a marriage to a perpetual cheater.
The days following the encounter marked some of the worst for Sue Ellen – and the Ewing family. Sue Ellen threw away years of sobriety – a battle that she had struggled so hard to overcome within one hour of the incident. Sitting in a shady bar she had a double vodka, which turned into another and another. The drinks blended into each other and Sue Ellen couldn't tell where one stopped and another began. Desperate, she called the one person she could think of, one of her only friends in Dallas, a person that she had isolated over the last year – because of her husband. Sue Ellen finally arrived at Clayton's hotel suite, the only sanctuary she could find. She couldn't return to Southfork – to J.R., to the room and the memories they had created over the past year. It was all a lie for her, a temporary peace; she was now thrust back into reality.
It could be argued that Clayton had saved her life that night. He kept her at his hotel, leaving her in his bed, making sure she had everything she needed. He kept her identity a secret – not even telling her mother-in-law Ellie Ewing, who he had been seeing more and more over the past several months. Clayton listened to Sue Ellen retell each detail, the way her husband made her feel, the look of triumph in Holly's eyes at finally winning.
Ellie brought Sue Ellen back to Southfork, trying in vain to keep her sober. She had too much to do around the house to babysit Sue Ellen, and the liquor cabinet – the one that she hadn't touched once that year – was calling out to her. Sue Ellen found the numbing drink welcoming; it took her to a fantasy world, away from reality. Reality came home when J.R. arrived. He had the gall to deny ever sleeping with Holly, calling Sue Ellen wrong, paranoid. But she knew what she saw. Throwing a drink in his face, she escaped out the front door and into J.R.'s car – keys in hand. She ignored her niece Lucy and Ray's cousin Mickey's cries for her to stop – she turned the engine on, quickly buckling up. At Lucy's insistence, Mickey jumped into the passenger seat, pleading with her to get out. He never put on his seat belt.
Ellie and J.R. joined Lucy in watching Sue Ellen pull out of the driveway. Ellie knew what her son had done – she knew the moment she found Sue Ellen at Clayton's hotel – by mistake when she was stopping in to say hello. Sue Ellen made it out of the driveway and barreled forward, not noticing a car gunning straight for them. The two vehicles collided and Ewing 3 went sailing off the street, toppling over in circles. Her screams were the last thing she remembered that night.
Sue Ellen gave John Ross a goodnight kiss and turned to leave, bypassing J.R. as he told John Ross goodnight. Resuming her position in the arm chair, Sue Ellen pulled out the society pages of Dallas's most widespread newspaper, Dallas Daily Press. Her elegant fingers brushed the pages as she stared at faces and places that she had known all of her life. Images began to rush together as J.R. announced his presence with a cough.
"Another quiet night at Southfork," he muttered, picking up the business section of the newspaper.
Lucy and Sue Ellen looked up at him. "At least Bobby's happy," Lucy muttered as she ripped a page out her magazine.
"We're not unhappy," J.R. said, not fully convinced.
"Some of us aren't anyway," Sue Ellen responded coolly, finally addressing her husband.
Truth be told, the Ewings had very little to be happy about. The past few months had tested all members of the family, and had driven matriarch Miss Ellie away from Southfork on a long-term vacation with new friend Clayton Farlow.
The trouble had started once Jock Ewing, patriarch of the Ewing family, had his will read and the family company was divided up between the family. Sons Gary and Ray each received 10%, Ellie received 30%, and sons J.R. and Bobby were now forced to fight for majority control of the company in a yearlong battle to see who could turn the greatest profit.
Both men were convinced that their father had intended for them to run the family business, and neither one was willing to back down from the fight. Miss Ellie had tried to stop the war, she had gone all the way to the courts to override the will, but it was to no avail. Bobby and J.R. gave everything they had to the company – and they lost their wives in the process.
Pamela Ewing chose to leave Bobby rather than see him deteriorate into a younger version of his older brother, someone he promised he would never become. Moving into her mother's house in Dallas was one of the hardest things she had ever done, and there were many moments when she regretted leaving and wanted to come back – but she never did. The divorce seemed amicable on the outside, neither party contesting the separation, both agreeing to share Christopher as best as they could, but on the inside, the divorce was nothing short of tragic.
Riddled with deceit and lies, Pam and Bobby were convinced that there was no way to repair the relationship, that they were better off without each other. Pam's half-sister Katherine Wentworth precipitated the divorce with the help of Bobby's brother J.R., though both had different reasons for splitting them up.
Katherine had fallen in love with Bobby while he was still married to Pam, and her love grew to an obsession as she vowed to do whatever she could to get Bobby for herself. J.R. knew about Katherine's feelings, and found a solid partner to destroy his brother's marriage, and do all of the dirty work for him. J.R. sat back as Katherine brainwashed Pam with the idea that Bobby wasn't the right husband for her, that she was better off on her own. Pam had trouble convincing herself that she was fully over Bobby, and it led Katherine to take one final action to destroy her sister's marriage. Bobby and Pam were wavering on the idea of getting a divorce, so Katherine wrote a letter – in Pamela's name – saying that she was in love with another man and wanted to move on. She delivered the letter to her brother-in-law herself, and Bobby said goodbye to Pam shortly after. Pam stood in the court room as her divorce hearing came through; Bobby never showed up, he never contested the separation and the divorce was finalized.
Bobby and Pam were congenial with each other and Pam promised to let Bobby see Christopher whenever he needed to, but things were strained between them. Pam found out about the letter after the divorce was finalized and didn't have the heart to tell Bobby that it was written in jealousy by her sister, that all she wanted was to get back together with him and erase the past year apart. Bobby never told Pam how hurt he had been by reading the letter and going through with the divorce. Both parties assumed that the other was ready to move on. Their relationship became a somewhat friendly one, they both asked each other how they doing, careful to avoid certain topics which included Jenna Wade and Mark Graison.
Jenna Wade was Bobby's first love, his high school sweetheart, and the woman that the Ewings thought Bobby would marry. The couple was all set to wed before Jenna ran off on him to Europe, not to be seen for a few years. Bobby moved on from Jenna and developed his playboy philosophy by living the good life both in college and at Southfork. The woman that tamed him was Pamela. Bobby ran into Jenna a few short months after marrying Pam, and she had a young five-year-old girl named Charlie with her. Questions arose the minute Bobby and Pam met her. It had been five years since Jenna left, and he was curious to know Charlie's parentage. Jenna was aloof in answering Bobby and Pam's questions, finally telling them that Charlie was not his, but the subject was never fully dropped. A few years later, Bobby ran into her again at a restaurant where she was now waitressing, Billy Bob's. Ever since that night, Bobby had been spending more and more time with her, and her little girl Charlie. Bobby had grown very attached to the young ten year-old girl and she and her mother were becoming staples at Southfork, with Charlie getting along surprising well with John Ross and his son Christopher.
Mark Graison was Pamela's current boyfriend and he did his very best to keep Pam from thinking about Bobby. Pam had met Mark through her mother in-law Ellie when she had asked to use his attorney in the fight over Jock's will. Miss Ellie had been convinced that Jock was not of sound mind when he was in South America, that he didn't want the company turned into a battle zone for his two sons, and it had been up to her to overturn the will. The Ewing family attorney, Harve Smithfield was loyal to Jock and couldn't be hired to represent her in court, so Miss Ellie searched elsewhere. She had heard of a gentleman named Brooks Oliver, a strong attorney with a good record – but he was the exclusive client of Mr. Mark Graison of Graisco Industries. Miss Ellie decided to ask Mr. Graison if he would be willing to lend his attorney to the Ewing family, and Pamela came along with her. Mark was more than happy to oblige the Ewing women and he soon formed a friendship with Pamela – while she was married to Bobby. Mark had made it very clear that he wanted more than friendship from Pam, but she was adamant about staying faithful to her husband. The relationship may have seemed platonic, but it made Bobby insecure and angry, and it drove a wedge between the once happy couple. By the time Pam was separated from Bobby and living in her mother's home in Dallas, she was seeing Mark daily, and it made reconciliation with Bobby even harder. Her relationship with her husband deteriorated as her relationship to Mark blossomed and before Pam knew it, she was on her way to a divorce. She knew that Mark was a wonderful man – he got along with her brother Cliff and Christopher, and she believed that she could eventually be happy with him. And right now, she was willing to settle for that.
Lucy kicked the carpet in front of her as boredom reared its ugly head. She hadn't had very much energy since losing Mickey in the car accident. She had gotten close to him a few short weeks; everything was happening fast that she didn't have the chance to consider what was happening to her. Her ex-husband Mitch Cooper and psycho photographer Roger Larson had disillusioned her ideas of finding the ideal mate. She was prepared to brush off Mickey's advances in the same fashion she had done to countless other men – his aloofness kept her interested and what started out as friendship soon became something more.
He was planning on marrying me someday, Lucy remembered, tucking a blonde hair behind her ear. Lucy didn't know if she would be ready for another walk down the aisle, but she knew that she wanted a relationship with Mickey – until he was taken away.
He was only doing what I told him to do – he was trying to help Sue Ellen. Mickey forgetting to put on a seatbelt proved to be his fatal mistake when another car crashed into Ewing 3, sending Mickey and Sue Ellen tipping over. Mickey was left paralyzed, and rather than live a life in a hospital, he asked to be relieved from his pain. His cousin Ray turned off his life support machine and Mickey found the peace that he wanted.
Mickey may have left in peace, but his death haunted several members of the Ewing family. Sue Ellen felt guilty for Mickey getting hurt in the car, though her guilt was partly relieved when she discovered that the man that crashed into them was out to get J.R. Ray spent weeks feeling guilty over Mickey's condition in the hospital, and he didn't want to have his cousin destroy his life. The final straw came when Mickey's mother – Ray's aunt- Lil Trotter told Ray that she couldn't bear to see her son living life hooked to a machine, and to pull the plug. Ray obliged them and released Mickey of any pain. Ray was held accountable for his actions – being brought to trial for pulling Mickey's life support. After weeks of deliberating, Ray was found guilty of murder, and given an eighteen month probation period as punishment.
It wasn't the court hearing that brought Ray down, it was losing his cousin. Ray had hoped to be a role model for him just like the one he found in Jock. Ray had taken Mickey from Kansas with his Aunt Lil to start over in Dallas and create a new life. What Ray didn't know was that Mickey did look up to him and that Ray had made a positive difference in his life.
After the court hearing, Donna had insisted on a vacation away from Dallas to New York, where they could regroup and have a very belated honeymoon. Donna wanted to help get past Ray's depression over Mickey. She told him over and over that he had done the right thing – what Mickey and Aunt Lil wanted, that he didn't kill him, no matter what the courts said. The Krebbs family was due back in Dallas by the end of the week.
Sue Ellen leaned back into the chair and sighed softly. She had to agree with Lucy that things were too quiet at Southfork. The ranch that used to be full of people and life was reduced to few family members sitting across from each other and saying nothing.
"It's been a while since we've had a Ewing barbeque," Sue Ellen said ruefully, recalling the exciting annual Ewing event where Dallas society would come and be merry at Southfork. Sue Ellen had always put a great deal of planning into the event, working alongside her mother-in-law Miss Ellie to make the day spectacular for everyone. There was food, drinks, music, conversation and often entertainment provided by guests when conflicts broke out.
"I wasn't even at the last one," Lucy admitted. She had been away on a modeling assignment the weekend of the event and had missed the festivities.
"Well – you've both said that there's nothing to celebrate," J.R. pointed out, raising his head from the financial section of the newspaper.
Sue Ellen ignored J.R.'s comment and continued. "What if we had a welcoming back party for Miss Ellie when she returns from Europe?"
"Now there's an idea," Lucy brightened, sitting up. "I'll even help plan it."
Sue Ellen gave her niece a small smile. "That's good to hear Lucy, I'd hate to plan the whole party by myself."
The two women ignored J.R.'s presence as they candidly spoke about catering, music, and guest lists.
"I suppose Bobby will be bringing Jenna," J.R. said, cutting into the conversation.
Sue Ellen turned to look at her husband. "I don't see why not, they're very serious about each other."
"It's funny," J.R. commented, "Bobby and Jenna seem to have picked up where they left off over ten years ago – before she ran out on him." Sue Ellen and Lucy looked at J.R. "I always knew those two were meant to be together," J.R. finished with a chuckle.
Sue Ellen glared at J.R.'s obvious dig at Pamela. She silently wondered if it would be appropriate to invite her friend to the party. Pam was a good friend of Miss Ellie's, and she was Christopher's mother, and it would only seem natural to extend an invitation since half of Dallas would be coming anyway.
Lucy looked at Sue Ellen questioningly; the two seemed to be having the same thoughts of Pam –neither one wanting to mention her name in front of J.R.
"We should probably wait until Ray and Donna get back from New York," Sue Ellen said, breaking the silence.
Lucy nodded her head in agreement. "They should be home soon, I spoke to Donna yesterday."
Sue Ellen rubbed her chin. "I'll call Punk and Mavis Anderson tomorrow – Mavis can probably help plan the party – she'd love that."
"Then we're settled," Lucy said in agreement. "I'll make sure to get off the night of the party."
Sue Ellen couldn't help but smile. She was being active again, getting involved in a project – something that she hadn't done since the accident. This can be another step in putting my life back together, she thought as she organized the list of things to be done on a piece of paper.
J.R. stole looks at his wife from behind the newspaper. He loved seeing her smile – her whole face lit up. Pangs of guilt went through him, he knew that he was part of the reason for her unhappiness, that if he had considered her feelings – their marriage vows, they wouldn't be in this predicament. Hell mamma would still be here at Southfork instead of with that interloper Clayton Farlow, J.R. mumbled.
J.R. had his own reasons for disliking Clayton and most of them led to Sue Ellen. Clayton Farlow was an enemy from the start –when Sue Ellen and John Ross sought refuge with him and his son Dusty after the separation. J.R. had done his best to intimidate Farlow and Sue Ellen but neither one waivered. Clayton was a strong power in his own right, and it frightened J.R. to face such a formidable opponent not only in a business sense but a personal one as well. Much to J.R.'s detriment, Sue Ellen's friendship with Clayton continued when she broke up with Dusty and moved into a townhouse in Dallas with John Ross and even continued when she married him for a second time. Clayton had been the one to walk her down the aisle and give her away – to J.R. of all people.
The clock on the mantle ticked off the seconds as Sue Ellen and Lucy poured over lists of what to do for Miss Ellie's homecoming, and J.R. attempted to distract himself with the newspaper. He hated Sue Ellen's cool demeanor to him. If she spoke to him at all, it was usually about John Ross, their one remaining bond. Sue Ellen was more than willing to play the happy mother in front of her son for his sake – the family appeared united at dinners, when they dropped John Ross off at camp – but when John Ross wasn't around, the two were more like strangers.
The gentle sound of Teresa's voice interrupted the three Ewings.
"Mr. J.R., Miss Ellie is on the phone," Teresa said, as J.R. got up to talk to his mother.
"Hello mamma," J.R. said with a happier tone. He enjoyed hearing from his mother while she was away. Now that things were calmer at the ranch, she could come home and be with the family.
"J.R.?" The familiar voice of Ellie Ewing rang through the earpiece. To J.R. it was as if she was right next to him at the dinner table, talking with the family. "How are things?"
"Much better Mamma – I promise. Everything is under control," J.R. assured her, hoping that she would be returning soon – where she belonged.
"That's wonderful," Ellie said, reassurance resonating in her voice.
"How's Europe?"
"Clayton and I are having a wonderful time – I'll have to tell you all about it when we get back."
"We?" J.R. asked, tentatively, wondering what Clayton Farlow had to do with anything.
"Yes, J.R.," Ellie replied. "I have a feeling that we'll all be seeing a lot more of Clayton from now on."
"Mamma….," J.R. started, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "What exactly does that mean?"
"You'll see," Ellie said with a sly smile. "Our flight will be arriving in Dallas in five days. I trust that you and Bobby can steal yourselves away from that office to meet us?"
J.R. flinched at the word 'us'. The last thing this family needs is Clayton Farlow, he muttered silently. "Of course we can Mamma – nothing's more important than family – you know that," J.R. chuckled.
"I knew you'd say that," Ellie smiled. "Give the family my love."
"I'll do that Mamma," J.R. promised as he hung up the phone and returned to the living room.
"How's Grandma?" Lucy asked expectantly. Sue Ellen looked up at J.R. awaiting an answer. He seemed pensive to her – occupied with something. He doesn't seem very thrilled about her coming back, Sue Ellen thought, which perplexed her greatly; J.R. had been very vocal about Miss Ellie's need to come back to the ranch.
"She's fine," J.R. said, sitting down.
"What did she say?" Sue Ellen pestered him, hands in her lap. "Is she coming home?"
"Five days," J.R. said, looking straight at his wife.
"Well that doesn't give us very much time does it, Lucy," Sue Ellen said with a smile.
"We can plan a party in five days," Lucy assured her. "It doesn't have to involve the entire town – maybe more of an intimate gathering with close friends and acquaintances," she smiled. "Plus – I know plenty of caterers willing to drop everything to do a Ewing event," she said with a smirk.
"Another perk of the Ewing name," Sue Ellen said halfheartedly.
"I'll call Ray and Donna tomorrow – maybe they can cut their vacation," Lucy added.
Sue Ellen turned her focus back to J.R. "Did she say anything else?"
J.R. looked at his wife, her hazel eyes locked with his blue. "Clayton's coming back with her," he said in a monotone – attempting to hide his feelings on the subject, and not succeeding.
"That's wonderful," Lucy said as she got up to leave, not noticing J.R.'s agitation. "He's been a good friend to her."
"That's news indeed," Sue Ellen said softly, her gaze still locked on her husband. Lucy hadn't seen J.R.'s disappointment – but she did. Yet another thorn in your side my darling husband, Sue Ellen thought malevolently. There was very little that escaped Sue Ellen where her husband was concerned. The two had cultivated a close bond where they could sense each other's feelings with a simple look or phrase.
"I have the feeling that she's got a little surprise in store for everyone," J.R. said in an attempt to change the subject.
"We all know how you love surprises," Sue Ellen teased as she stood to leave.
"Sue Ellen!" J.R. called after her. "How close would you say that Mamma and Clayton are?"
Sue Ellen paused and studied her husband. He is threatened by Clayton Farlow, she wanted to shout, but bit her tongue. "I really don't know," she said honestly. When Sue Ellen had married J.R. she had seen Clayton spending time socially with Ellie, but knew they were friends and nothing more. This vacation could change everything, Sue Ellen thought quietly, looking at her husband. And he knows it! That's why he's so worried. Sue Ellen decided to tease J.R. a little and see what he would say. "Why do you ask, J.R.?" she asked innocently.
J.R. looked at his wife, coming towards her. He gingerly brushed his hand against hers. "Mamma was intimating a friendship with Clayton," he admitted lowly, in a hushed tone.
Sue Ellen felt a tinge of nervousness from J.R.'s close proximity to her, and the juicy tidbit he had just reveled. Are our suspicions correct she wondered quietly. "Your mother could have been referring to anything, J.R.," Sue Ellen said softly, taking a step back.
"I know my mamma," J.R. said in an authoritative tone. "She distinctly said we'll all be seeing a lot more of Clayton from now on."
Sue Ellen lowered her head, feeling J.R,'s breath on her neck. Her gut told her to walk – run – away, but for some unknown reason, she stayed. "You could be worrying over nothing."
"Or it could be something," he insisted. J.R. tiled Sue Ellen's chin up. "You know Clayton very well."
"I knew him well," Sue Ellen said quietly, pulling her face away from his. "I haven't spoken to him in some time."
"He's got no business with this family," J.R. insisted.
Sue Ellen frowned. She and Clayton had suffered ups and downs since she remarried J.R. – he had openly told her that he was against it – but she still thought of him as a friend. "He is a good man – and if your mother enjoys his company, it is not your place to deprive her of him," she said as she walked away, up the stairs to her bedroom.
J.R. opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He watched her move up the stairs and close the bedroom door. J.R. once again pondered why he let Sue Ellen get away from him again. Surely Daddy would have done the same thing in my position, J.R. said quietly to assure himself, even though he knew it wasn't true. Ultimately, there was nothing more important to Jock Ewing than his wife Eleanor Ewing Farlow. He may not have shown it when he should have – but at the end of the day, he knew where his wife stood with him – she was number one.
Why can't I let Sue Ellen know that, J.R. berated himself as he crawled into bed with expense reports for his half of Ewing Oil. Even before this whole fight with Bobby, work came before her, and now…. J.R. couldn't believe that he was thinking this, but he was willing to put her before his work – in the same way that his daddy had.
J.R. fought restlessly with his paperwork for Ewing Oil, something that was once very precious to him. Over the past several months he had convinced himself that nothing was more important than beating Bobby in the battle for Ewing Oil and getting 51% of the company, leaving his brother with 19%. But his work wasn't holding the same zest for him that it used to- and he knew why. His eyes darted across the hall to a closed door, where his other half held her evening routine in the same way that she had over the past few months.
Sue Ellen propped open her latest book – another classic romance novel – and snuggled under the covers. J.R. used to be the one that kept me warm at night, she mused. Now all I have is my old electric blanket. Resting her head against the pillows, Sue Ellen recalled many nighttime talks between the two after a hard day's work for him. He would go to her with his problems and she would listen eagerly, champion his cause and tell him that everything would be better the next day. Until he stopped coming to me and started keeping to himself, she thought quietly. It happened gradually, once the honeymoon wore off – both times. As a young bride, Sue Ellen was naïve enough to believe that the attention J.R. gave her while they were courting would remain when they were married. The young Mrs. Ewing was in for a rude awakening after the honeymoon, when J.R. began to spend long hours at the office away from her. He would usually be cool, distant, unresponsive. Yet when J.R. was at the very bottom, he would come to her, and she would relish those moments of bonding between them. Sadly, the closeness was never permanent, it was sporadic at best, and Sue Ellen was left disillusioned. She would have left J.R. years ago if she had the courage – if she didn't love him. But she did love him, and there was no denying that. When he proposed to her after their divorce, she believed that this time love would conquer all; that she and J.R. could stay in that happy phase forever. She couldn't imagine her shock – after he chased her, after she trusted him – when J.R. went back to his old ways. In one night, their marriage crumbled, and Sue Ellen became a shell of her old self.
She wanted to believe that she could hate J.R. after everything he had done to her but she couldn't. Part of her still loved him – though she would never let him know that. Sue Ellen needed to be strong, not just for herself, but for John Ross. And that meant being the best mother she could be – which meant getting away from J.R.'s influences and declaring her own independence. Taking her own room at Southfork was the first vital step – she told J.R. that she was in charge of her own destiny. Had there been no John Ross, she could have and would have left him, loving him from afar, but not trusting him. She wondered if she ever could trust him – if he ever would change to being the attentive man he was when they first met. What Sue Ellen did know, was that it would take a miracle.
Ellie Ewing sat with her traveling companion Clayton in their final destination on their
European tour – London, England.
"How's the family?" Clayton asked, pouring her a drink.
"I spoke with J.R.," Ellie said, sipping her wine. "He said that everything is fine at the house. I can't wait to see how they decorated it." Ellie was referring to the devastating Southfork fire that sent family members Bobby, Sue Ellen, J.R., and John Ross to a hotel until the house could be remodeled.
The fire was another side effect of the battle for Ewing Oil. When the truth of the driver that collided with Sue Ellen and Mickey was revealed, and that the person was involved with J.R. – Ray threatened to kill him. The two fought combat for several minutes in the living room amidst candles and lamps. The house caught on fire during the scuffle, and it was through the strength and ability of the Ewing men that the family made it out alive.
"Well if J.R. says it than he must be true," Clayton laughed, drinking a bourbon.
"Clayton," Ellie chided, "I know full well that you and J.R. have fought in the past, but when we get back to Dallas..."
"I promise to make good on my promise to be polite to all of your family."
"Our family," Ellie corrected him, taking his hand.
"Have you told them?" Clayton asked.
Ellie shook her head. "This is something I'd like to tell them in person." Clayton kissed Ellie's cheek. One of the many things he admired about Ellie Ewing was her dedication and love for her family – no matter what they did. "Are you having second thoughts?" Ellie asked him.
"Not at all," Clayton insisted, "I've never been so sure of anything in my whole life."
"You're not just getting me," Ellie reminded him. "You're getting a whole family."
"The Ewing package deal," Clayton joked.
"That's right. The Ewings stick together."
"I wonder how they're going to react," Clayton mused, half-dreading what lay before him in Dallas.
"Reactions will vary," Ellie said, thinking of J.R. and Bobby, "but this is what I want and there is nothing that they can do to change it. You and I are in this together," Ellie said firmly, holding Clayton's hands.