Austin, Texas

Sue Ellen put on her nightgown and got ready for bed; she had been on edge all day, always waiting and expecting JR to call, but he never did; she assumed that Miss Ellie would have told JR that she had called, and she hoped that she had just forgotten, not that JR was purposely ignoring her. She was a little nervous, but also excited, the flowers were growing in number and it felt an awful lot like they were really leading up to something special and important. Although she was tired, she found it difficult to get her mind to rest, something was definitely going on, she just didn't know what it was, and that bothered her.

Across town, JR checked into his suite at the Driskill Hotel, there was something lucky about this room and he hoped that that luck wasn't coming to an end anytime soon. He was exhausted, the hunting trip had been anything but relaxing, he just wasn't an outdoorsman the same way his father and brother were. He showered and changed into his pajamas before getting into bed and going to sleep, he wanted to be rested before he saw her in the morning; he hadn't been planning on being this tired before he did see her, the hunting trip had been enjoyable enough, but the timing wasn't great.

Dallas, Texas

"Why is it that boy is never here when I need him?" Jock complained to his wife as they sat at the breakfast table, the table looked even emptier than usual with just the two of them, "and where's Lucy? That girl needs to eat soon or else she'll be going to school hungry; though with these overcooked eggs, I can't blame her for skipping breakfast", he was mostly just in a mood and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. "Lucy will be down in just a minute, and as for JR, he said it was important and I believe him, I'm sure he'll be back in no time", Miss Ellie smiled to herself, knowing that JR's little trip to Austin wasn't a coincidence. He was there to see Sue Ellen, and by the way Sue Ellen had called looking for him earlier in the week, she had no doubt that they were about to fix their problems. "Mm, we'll he'd better be, or else he'll be working overtime. The oil business waits for no man, I need him here, not off in Austin doing whatever it is that he's doing", Ellie would have laughed if her husband weren't so serious. He obviously hadn't connected the dots and she wasn't going to say anything about it now, but she was sure that he wouldn't be so upset about the Austin trip when he heard the news about the Shepard-Ewing reconciliation.

Austin, Texas

His body clock never failed him, no matter how tired he had been when he went to bed; he always awoke at the same time. He checked his appearance one final time before he left the hotel, stopping at the florist before directing the chauffeur to Sue Ellen's house. He was nervous, but he wasn't sure why, this was what she wanted, and what he now realised that he wanted. It had taken him months, but he finally understood why she was frustrated and why she had suggested space. He had been sceptical at first, but the little break in their relationship had clarified a few things for him; he wasn't happy to live the life of a bachelor when he had tasted the life of a man in love. It just wasn't the same to wake up in the morning alone or next to any random girl, he wanted Sue Ellen, and he was prepared to do anything it took to get her.

Sue Ellen awoke to the sound of another one of Kristin's temper tantrums, from what she could hear, it was something about hairbrushes, ponytails and pleated skirts, she wasn't really paying attention and she didn't really care, but she did know that she wasn't going to get any more sleep this morning. She looked outside, trying to determine the temperature and which activity she would do today, she had a tennis lesson later on, but it was still early and she didn't enjoy sitting around doing nothing, it was so dull. It was mornings like these that she missed college and the way her life had been then; she was never bored in college, always too busy to even think about the concept of boredom, but now, she moved from activity to activity but never really had a focus. She wished that she had held her ground a little more with JR when he had asked her to stop modelling, because at least with that, she had something to spend her days doing, and she had a reason to motivate her to stay in shape. Lately she had begun to wonder exactly what the point of everything was, she had no job, no boyfriend, hardly any friends and no motivation or reason to really do anything; the flowers had changed her way of thinking, but had yet to actually lead anywhere. It was a sunny day, and she decided that running would be a good activity, it was always enjoyable and she got a small sense of accomplishment from running.

The limousine drove past the Shepard home, seeing Patricia's car in the driveway and knowing that Kristin's school started at nine, he decided to wait a few minutes before approaching. JR looked out the window as the chauffeur took a leisurely drive around the neighbourhood to kill some time; just ahead of them was a tall woman, jogging on the footpath before entering a local park, he could only see her from behind, but he knew it was Sue Ellen. "Fine, fine woman", he mumbled to himself, she sure did have a way of making simple activities look sensual and appealing. The limousine turned down a street going in the opposite direction and he was annoyed that he lost sight of her; he ordered the driver to take him somewhere where he could get a cup of coffee, this was probably going to be a longer morning than he had expected. If he knew Sue Ellen, she would be embarrassed if he showed up on her doorstep straight after her workout, even if he told her that she looked good, she would never believe him; it was better for him to just wait for her to finish her exercise, shower and then hopefully greet him with a smile.

Blow-drying her hair, she vaguely heard the sound of the doorbell; luckily, she was done now, with her hair dry and styled, she made her way downstairs to answer the door, realising as she walked that the flowers were usually delivered about this time. She'd expected Ed, the deliveryman that had delivered the yellow roses each morning for the past eleven days, but instead, as she opened the door, she was greeted by a man dressed in a business suit, cowboy boots and a signature Stetson hat, although his face was covered by the bouquet of yellow roses, she knew exactly who it was. "JR!" she couldn't help but throw her arms around him, almost squishing the roses between them as they embraced; luckily, JR was quick to react, moving the flowers into one hand and out of the way as she hugged him. "Hello darlin'. May I come in?" he grinned, there was no way she was disappointed or upset, she was exactly where he wanted her and that was just perfect.

To be continued…