Dallas, Texas

Rolling over, feeling the cold sheet on the other side of the bed, Jenna opened her eyes.

"Bobby?"

Calling his name, she waited a few seconds but received no response.

Throwing the sheets back, walking over to the window, she saw no signs of life outside but that of the horses and cattle.

It was Saturday morning, he didn't have to work, he hadn't told her he had plans, and it was highly unlikely that breakfast in bed was a thing they'd be regularly participating in now that they were living under Jock's roof, so his whereabouts was a mystery to her.

Heading into the bathroom to shower, she had to assume he'd taken himself off somewhere without informing her and he wasn't in fact laying injured in a ditch, but it would have been nice to know.

Taking her time to shower and shave, she was midway through blow-drying her hair when the bathroom door opened and her husband announced his return.

"Bobby. Where have you been?"

Short and sharp with her question, he had to know that she wasn't impressed with his disappearing act.

"I was at the cemetery."

Hearing the explanation, all she could do was breath out a response, "oh."

Miss Ellie had been laid to rest in a family plot on the ranch, but Pam and Will were together in a cemetery closer to Braddock, she imagined alongside Pam's father; so with the word cemetery she knew which family he'd been to see.

She wasn't going to stop him from making visits to those he'd lost, she still spoke to her parents at times, years after their losses, it was simply that Bobby was her husband now and she'd very much like to know what he was feeling when he was feeling it, for his sake and her own.

"I think I'm going to go to Houston."

Telling her something, communicating as she'd wished for, what he said made little sense to her.

"Houston? Why?"

"I thought I'd dealt with what I needed to there, but I've come to realise I haven't."

Vague, he said words that might have meant something to her had she had some context, but seeing as she didn't, they didn't. She didn't know why he'd made the last trip to Houston and she didn't know why he was going this time either.

"What is in Houston?"

"Pam's family."

"Cliff Barnes lives right here in Dallas."

Knowing all about the relationship between the Barnes and Ewing families from a lifetime of being a Wade, she didn't remember hearing anything about a Houston connection.

"No, not Cliff. Pam's mother and sister live in Houston. It's complicated."

Unaware that Pam had a sister, or a mother who was still alive for that matter, she felt completely left out now.

"Is that why you were there in January?"

"Yes. I went to see Rebecca, Pam's mother. This time I'd like to meet Katherine, Pam's sister."

"Why didn't you tell me this?"

Bobby was allowed to have had a life before her, she certainly had one before him, but they were discussing something that had happened very recently and was presently still happening, something she, as his wife, should have known about sooner than she did.

"I'm telling you now."

"Bobby."

Sure that she was whining, especially after she saw his face, she didn't feel bad for making him think twice. He should have considered how she'd feel about his behaviour before he hid it from her.

"Today would have been our anniversary."

Changing the subject again, he caught her off-guard.

"I… I'm sorry."

Feeling awkward, she didn't know what to say to the comment. She understood what it was like to have an anniversary date pass without jubilation, she'd been married before too, but his marriage and anniversary date were different. He would probably always love Pam, he had lost her in a time where his love for her was growing by the day, and she'd need to learn to live with that, she just wasn't sure how to deal with it live in the moment.

Across town, Herbert Wentworth felt equally as awkward. Sitting at a table in a diner, opposite Rebecca's second son, the mess she'd made was all too apparent. Cliff had done well for himself, all by himself, which he made very clear. Unlike Katherine, who was a hard worker and had the benefit of being a Wentworth to assist her with what she achieved, Cliff had only himself to thank and seemed determined to make sure people knew that that was the case.

Had Rebecca come to him and written him a cheque now he wasn't sure he'd take it, making him even less sure that he was a real threat to Katherine's inheritance. It would be written that he couldn't challenge their estates, but from speaking to the man he didn't come across as the type that would do that anyway.

"I apologise on behalf of Rebecca, what she did was wrong and she understands that."

Unsure whether the gravity of her decisions had really sunk in yet, he didn't let that stop him from saying what needed to be said. Rebecca had abandoned the poor boy and his sister; the least he could do was acknowledge the harm done by her actions.

"Thank you, but it's not necessary for you to say it. It's not your fault what she did. You didn't know. Did you?"

Shaking his head, he confirmed that he'd been blindsided by the news.

"No, I can assure you, I didn't know."

"It sounds like she's still determined to keep it a secret. Katherine advises me she hardly speaks of it even now."

Not sounding particularly surprised, Cliff probably didn't have any reason to be. Rebecca was his mother but she hadn't contacted him at all throughout the entire ordeal. Katherine had been the one to uncover the secret and she'd been the one who'd continued to push for more once it was out in the open; it had taken a toll on her, the stress had made her physically ill once or twice, leading him to take things into his own hands.

"Katherine's right. It's come between us and none of those wounds have healed yet."

Rebecca had made a mistake in the past, that was forgivable if she showed remorse for it, but as it was, she didn't seem to be overly interested in acknowledging past wrongs or doing the right thing now, leaving them in a strange position.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry Rebecca isn't who we thought she was, and I'm sorry for the losses you've been through recently."

He loved his wife, but he didn't like anything about her behaviour, past or present.

"Thank you."

"I know Katherine wishes she'd have met your sister, Pamela."

Rebecca had had four children before they'd had Katherine and the only one that had survived was Cliff, it was a real shame that she hadn't put any effort into getting to know him now, and for as complicated as it was, it was a real shame Katherine would never know her other siblings.

"I wish they could have met too. Pam was really something special."

"I'm sure she was."

Understanding exactly where Cliff was coming from, he could only smile, empathetic; Cliff had no one close anymore and that was incredibly sad.

To be continued…