Dallas, Texas

"Miss Sue Ellen", Teresa walked into the dining room as the family ate breakfast, though Sue Ellen was really just picking at hers, too wrapped up in her thoughts to really enjoy the food on her plate. Her conversation last night with JR had confused her more than anything, and she didn't feel very reassured that he would still be on top when he returned to Dallas; he had said almost nothing when she told him of the conversation that she had overheard, it wasn't the reaction she had expected from him. Hearing Teresa call her name, she looked toward the door, surprised and even more confused now; Teresa was holding a very large bouquet of yellow roses and she immediately knew they were from JR, she just wasn't sure why; a happy mood was the last thing she expected him to be in right now. Standing and walking to take the flowers from Teresa, her actions were interrupted by Lucy's smart commentary, "secret admirer Sue Ellen?" Lucy grinned as she watched the surprised look on Sue Ellen's face; she loved to stir up a little bit of trouble occasionally, and her comments were harmless enough that no one really took it personally, it was just Lucy being Lucy. Sue Ellen was caught off guard by Lucy's comments and blushed as she noticed the whole family staring at her waiting for a reply to Lucy's question; "no, of course not Lucy; they're from JR. He always sent me yellow roses when we were dating", she was still surprised that JR had even sent her flowers and couldn't come up with a better explanation, though she was being truthful and she didn't really need a full explanation, her husband was just being kind. "Oh, that's nice. What does the card say?" now she was just being nosy, it surprised her that JR would send his wife flowers out of the blue, because she honestly never thought of her uncle JR as a very romantic man, that is, until he met Sue Ellen. His behaviour around her was so different when he first introduced her to the family, though he'd gone back to his usual self after a few months, at least it appeared so to her; she was suspicious of his motives, and still suspicious about what she had seen a few days earlier. In a highly unusual occurrence, she had seen Sue Ellen quickly run up the stairs, as if she were trying to make a hasty exit before she was caught. It wasn't normal for Sue Ellen to act that way, and it definitely didn't mean nothing, it meant something, she just wasn't sure what that something was yet; for all she knew, the answer she was looking for was written in the card. "Lucy!" Miss Ellie thought it best to cut short her granddaughters line of questioning before she said anything too rash, Sue Ellen was a fragile girl whose husband had been away for days and was simply making a nice gesture toward his wife. She herself had nothing to explain to anyone if she didn't want to, she hadn't done anything wrong and she didn't deserve to be interrogated. "Sorry grandma", Lucy apologised, though it was more for show than anything else, she was just being curious, she hadn't meant it offensively; Miss Ellie looked at her granddaughter and Lucy sighed, "I'm sorry Sue Ellen, it's none of my business, I wasn't thinking". Sue Ellen smiled, she didn't know it yet, but Lucy was a devious little girl, she meant everything that she did or said, but she always played the innocent; "thank you Lucy". For a moment, she thought about just reading her the card anyway, but she decided against it, she wasn't sure that JR would appreciate her telling the whole family that he was 'missing her', because as he often reminded her, he had a reputation to maintain.

Sue Ellen and Miss Ellie returned from their DOA meeting late in the afternoon, heading straight upstairs to get ready for dinner. Sue Ellen hurriedly undressed and walked into the bathroom to shower, not noticing the suitcase on the luggage rack in the corner of their bedroom. Meanwhile, JR parked his car in the driveway for the second time that day; he had arrived back in Dallas that morning, quickly dropping his things at Southfork before heading straight to the office. He would have liked to have seen Sue Ellen, but he couldn't blame her for being there to greet him on his arrival, he hadn't actually told her that he was coming home that morning. Arriving home from the office with a smile on his face, it appeared to anyone who greeted him that he was just happy because his out-of-town meetings had gone better than expected and he was looking forward to seeing his wife. Although those things were true, he also had another reason; thanks to his wife's spying, he was now one step ahead of his father and brother and he already had a plan for how to deal with their upcoming changes; he was confident that he was still the best Ewing at Ewing Oil and nothing would change that. He grinned to himself as he entered their bedroom, seeing that their bathroom door was open a crack and Sue Ellen was standing inside, wearing only a towel, completely oblivious to the fact that her husband was just a few yards away. Closing the door quietly, he walked toward the bathroom, "hello darlin'"; Sue Ellen jumped as the door swung open but her mood quickly changed from frightened to ecstatic. JR hadn't told her that he was coming back to Dallas today and if she had known, she would have been there to greet him, but she didn't care about that now, it had been much too long since they had been together and she was just happy to have him home. "JR!" she threw her arms around him, overjoyed that he was actually there and he seemed pleased to see her; despite desperately wishing he would return home, she hadn't known what to expect when he actually arrived back in Dallas. He had left in a mood and she had dropped a bombshell on him about Bobby and Jock's conversation, but he didn't seem to be bothered by any of that right now, and if he wasn't thinking about it, then she decided to drop those thoughts too, all she wanted was him.

"To the future success of Ewing Oil", Jock held up his glass and toasted, the rest of the family following; it was a proud day for him and he was pleased that it had been a smooth decision. He had been prepared for JR to argue and dispute the changes, but he had surprised him, maturely agreeing that any experience was good experience for Bobby and that he deserved to be more involved in the business operations. Sue Ellen observed each of the Ewing men, trying to work out exactly why they all seemed so pleased with the deal; she had been sure that there would have been some kind of disagreement, but from each of their facial expressions, it seemed like they were all happy. She had yet to get a real answer out of JR about his reaction to the whole thing, despite it being two days since he arrived back in Dallas. She made a mental note to approach the subject with him again later, she wanted to know why he was so agreeable; she knew he had a plan, JR Ewing always had a plan, unfortunately though, he hadn't shared it with her and she felt left out. "Mrs Ewing, dinner is ready", Teresa interrupted the celebrations and broke Sue Ellen's train of thought. JR escorted his wife into the dining room, enjoying that no one but he knew his exact plans, it was just the way he liked it. He realised though that Sue Ellen was probably curious and confused about what he had done with her information and why he didn't seem to be upset by the new arrangement. He made a mental note to thank her properly for helping him with the situation later, he wasn't going to tell her the details, but he could at least thank her for the valuable information she had supplied him with, she deserved that much at least.

To be continued…