Dallas, Texas

It had started earlier in the day, but by the time Bobby entered the tack room in the Southfork stables, nodding casually at Ray before moving over to the far wall to hang up his saddle, he'd made up his mind.

"Same time tomorrow?"

"I'll see you then."

Waving goodbye to Ray, he sighed as he stood alone. Jenna had been right when she'd questioned his work situation and coming to terms with that reality wasn't pleasant.

To say Ray had been surprised to see him earlier would have been an understatement and to say anyone had needed his help with ranching would have been a lie. His presence had been welcomed, but not necessary; he was surplus to requirements and he didn't like it.

They'd never desperately needed him to run the ranch and he'd always been able to come and go, taking off in the middle of the day for Pam, Jenna, Charlie, or Sue Ellen and John Ross' needs, however he'd always had a place at work when he did attend. Over the past few months, between Pam's pregnancy complications, losing her and Will, his emotional withdrawal, losing his mama, seeking support from Jenna, then later willingly choosing to spend time with her and Charlie over the ranch hands and eventually making Jenna his wife, it wasn't surprising that life at the ranch had moved on without him.

They didn't have a place for him to fill because day-to-day he wasn't there and if he didn't consistently attend to the duties assigned to the job he claimed to have, then no one would, which just couldn't happen when they were running a business.

He liked ranching, he'd chosen it over working in the oil business and had been happy with that decision at the time he'd made it, however, back at work after a long break his decision suddenly all felt wrong.

He had no interest in returning to the office, it would cause all sorts of problems with JR, he'd never been very good at competing with his brother's business acumen, and frankly he wasn't much interested in oil, the office environment, or working in the business during a crisis. He could ask Jack for his job back, but that wouldn't be fair, not to Jack or to Jenna, and it probably wouldn't have been as fun as it once had considering he wasn't single and looking to have as much fun with as many people as possible any longer. Ewing Oil was a family company but he'd had enough experience with it to know he was happy to leave it for JR to deal with.

Southfork was supposed to have been his to learn about and take control of later in life but he simply wasn't necessary which had led him to the decision he'd made. He was going to do something for himself, create a family legacy of his own, but first he needed to convince his family it was a good idea.

Gathered in the office at JR's home, Jenna's former family home, he outlined his thoughts to his father and brother then waited for one of them to respond. He didn't need them to go in with him and he wasn't prepared to give up control of his plans if they did choose to support him, but he'd like to be fair and kind by giving them the opportunity to be included, the extra funding wouldn't hurt either.

"I'm open to investing but you're going to have to give me a better idea what you're actually proposing before I do."

Sounding interested, JR wasn't exactly quick to commit, although he hadn't expected him to be.

"You mean what industry I'm entering?"

"That and a business plan. Do you have one?"

Vice president of Ewing Oil, JR was well versed in what happened when and had expectations that everyone else thought the same way he did, which wasn't the truth.

"A business plan?"

"Yes."

"Not yet."

He couldn't write a business plan without first knowing what sort of business he intended to run but other than knowing working Southfork wasn't for him the other details were yet to be decided.

"Right, well come back to me when you do and we'll talk financing."

"Thanks."

Shaking JR's hand, he turned to his daddy when he cleared his throat to speak.

"I'm on the same page as JR, I'd like to see what you're intending to do before I commit to anything. Do you have anything you can share with us now?"

"I have a few thoughts, perhaps natural gas, property development or even ranching."

He'd put thought into his future and come up with a few ideas, but at the moment they really were just ideas. He'd always thought natural gas had potential, population growth always demanded housing, and he enjoyed ranching, just not on Southfork anymore, but there was always the option to buy his own land and work it, or do a deal with JR to lease his property, Jenna's former family property.

"Natural gas? I wouldn't go there, you don't know a whole lot about it and the pricing regulation doesn't exactly encourage production."

"I'll investigate everything before I move forward."

Hearing what his father was saying, he tried not to feel discouraged and instead appreciate his wisdom, although it was difficult when his next comment wasn't positive either.

"What's this about ranching? If you're going to ranch you can work at Southfork."

"I'm not needed at Southfork."

"That's nonsense, it's a Ewing ranch and you're a Ewing, you'll always be needed."

He'd heard it all before and it sounded nice but it wasn't true.

"Daddy, I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I want whatever it is to be something I can build up myself. I don't want to step on anyone's toes, not yours, JR's or even Ray's."

Not bothering to explain how little he had to do, firstly because JR was sure to think he had an easy life if he complained about his workload, and secondly because he didn't want Ray to be demoted, or worse, he opted for a different approach, something more heartfelt.

"Mm, well Ray is a good man…"

"Why don't you think about it Bob and come back to us when you have an idea of where we'll be putting our money."

Interrupting, JR brought the conversation back around to the original point before their daddy could extol the virtues of Ray and what he'd done for the ranch, not because he didn't like Ray but because talking at length about ranching wasn't something he enjoyed.

"I'll do that."

He'd make the decision that he wanted to, but knowing where his support lay and didn't lie made things easier.

To be continued…