Some individuals were expert liars. Jock had raised J.R. to be one. In business, it was imperative to master the poker face and call another's bluff. J.R. snaked behind his wife, as he readied himself to call hers. Some people were expert liars; Sue Ellen had yet to master the elite skill.
"J.R., I do not wish to discuss this any further." She busied herself with futile objects around their bedroom.
"Honey, why are you so nervous?" Her husband softly applied pressure, "I'm simply curious as to where you and Pamela spent the afternoon." Upon their return to Southfork, Pam and Sue Ellen had unfortunately presented different answers to Bobby's innocent inquiry as to their whereabouts.
"I'm not nervous," she removed her coat, her hands shaking on every button. His intense stare forced her to blurt the truth, so blurt she did. "We were with Kristin." His face fell blank, his eyes didn't even scowl when Sue Ellen peered toward him. "I'm sorry, I had every intention to tell you privately but with the whole family downstairs..." It was the con-factor to living at Southfork; everybody knew everybody's business. "Please don't be upset with me."
"I'm disappointed," he confessed, so honest and heartfelt that his Texan drawl had faded. He didn't sound like himself. Her dishonesty, however reluctant, acted as a backward step from the giant, mountainous leap their relationship had made. "How is she?"
"She miscarried."
"She lost the baby?" Her husband stammered, unable to comprehend the news, let alone the hurricane of emotion it drowned his heart in. He hadn't realised how much he would have loved that child, irrespective of the indecency of his relationship with Kristin. He wondered whether the stress he forced upon Kristin, separated from family and friends, exiled from Dallas and left to fend for herself. "What did the doctor say?"
"They said the most likely cause was stress," Sue Ellen forced the words out, her teeth piercing her lip. How ironic that John Ross had entered their lives relatively unscathed, after the nine months of turmoil she had endured. Meanwhile, Kristin's fairly peaceful pregnancy had ended abruptly. "She's at the Fairview Hotel," Sue Ellen informed her husband. "She spent over a week in the hospital. By the time she recovered, she flew into Dallas and discovered we left Southfork. If it hadn't been for Pamela, she would have disappeared to California or God knows where." J.R.'s jaw clenched shut, unable to praise his sister-in-law in his sombre mood. "J.R., I know the baby was a source of tension between us but -" Sue Ellen paused, wordlessly. "You were the father of her baby. You should morn that loss, seek support from the people that love you." She mustered all her courage, "So should Kristin, which is why I've invited her to stay at Southfork."
His expression spoke volumes, "You did what?"
"I've invited Kristin to stay at Southfork, with you and me." Sue Ellen's feet were firmly planted, as she calmly repeated her previous statement.
The tears which threatened to spring to the surface died, the tenderness of the moment smashed into pieces, as J.R. leapt to his feet. "Are you insane? Have you lost sight of the reason we banished her to California in the first place?" Still, Sue Ellen retained her sweet naiveté.
"Hold on now, J.R.," she refused responsibility. "You banished Kristin to California, all on your own accord!"
"Alright," he huffed, "I banished her to California, for which I had every reason. I am trying to salvage our marriage! That woman shot me, left me for dead, Sue Ellen, and she was more than prepared to let you take the fall for her crimes!"
"That woman happens to be my sister and, if not for recent events, the mother of your child!" Sue Ellen unleashed her fury. Anyone who had had the pleasure, or the misfortune, of encountering the infamous J.R. Ewing had often publicly speculated he had zero compassion for anyone but himself. Sue Ellen, however, knew better than to fall for her husband's exterior appearance but there were times when she questioned his humanity; this was one of those times.
"Sue Ellen, your sister has been a thorn in our sides for these past couple years. Look how far we've come since she's been out of our lives." J.R. shook his head, his decision cemented in his brain, "Uh-uh, I'm sorry, darlin', but I do not want Kristin here at Southfork. Besides, you and I both know daddy would never allow her to step foot on this ranch."
His wife rolled her eyes, irritably, "Who died and made your father God?"
The audible bitterness in the word 'father' stunned J.R. more than her question. "Sue Ellen, honey, this is his ranch. He and my mama make the rules around here, so you'll be out of luck, if you expect me to be your sister's advocate."
"Well, of course not! We can't defy daddy, can we?" His eyes darkened and Sue Ellen relented, a little. "J.R., I may have been stunned when you uprooted us to Alaska and I may not have supported the decision at first, but I did respect you. You finally branched out from underneath your father and became your own man." His desperation to gain Jock's approval and pride had become evident, once again, since their return to Southfork. "How many more years am I expected to live here, under your family's watchful eyes?" The few months in Alaska had been a successful test-run and she desired more of the opportunity to branch out, on a permanent basis. "How old will you be before you stop answering to your father?"
"Family means the world to me, you know that." J.R. defensively retorted, "All I've ever done has been for that man."
"Then maybe it's time you did something for yourself."