Denison, Texas

Sue Ellen gently awoke on Saturday morning, the early morning sunlight softly illuminating the room, unfortunately also shining directly onto her side of the bed. It took her a moment to realise where she was and why she was there, but as the initial confusion wore off, she smiled to herself, pleased with the way things had changed in the past 48 hours. She had been so sure that JR hadn't planned anything for their anniversary, he hadn't mentioned keeping her calendar clear for the weekend, or even booking dinner for them on Monday to celebrate, in fact, he hadn't even mentioned their anniversary at all, not even in casual conversation. She had almost come to believe that he had forgotten all about it; that is, until several large bouquets of yellow roses, and a small invitation note arrived for her on Thursday afternoon, right in the middle of a DOA meeting. She wasn't sure whether the timing of JR's gesture was coincidental or intentional, but it fuelled the women's gossip nonetheless, something she didn't realise she disliked so much until it was all about her. She was sure she heard Marilee whisper something about infidelity and JR trying to make amends, but she attributed the comments to Marilee just being a nasty, spiteful woman rather than anyone who actually spoke the truth. She trusted JR and she was sure that he had only been distant lately because of his work, not for any other reason. The flowers were just the beginning of the change, JR had come home from work on time and in a good mood, and for the first time in weeks, he had taken her out to dinner, just the two of them, not for any reason other than because he wanted to spend time with her. She was always so confused by the way JR acted, he had highs and lows and his moods and behaviour were largely unpredictable; he didn't make it easy for her to be his wife, she never knew how he was going to be when he returned home from work, or what he needed her to do for him. There were times when he paid almost no attention to her, or only vaguely trusted her enough to divulge his thoughts and problems; in contrast, there were other times when he acted exactly like the JR she had met at the Miss Texas pageant, the gentleman who romantically pursued her and made it known that he wanted her. Married life was a lot more difficult than she had expected it to be, mostly due to the unpredictability, but that didn't change her opinion on her husband at all; when she said her marriage vows at their wedding, she meant them, and she intended to keep trying to be the best wife that she could.

After a few futile efforts at keeping the sun out of her eyes, she gave up on trying to go back to sleep. Looking at the clock, she realised that it was almost seven and JR would be awake any minute now; seizing the opportunity, she decided to get up and make breakfast for the two of them, planning to have it ready and waiting for JR when he woke up. Quietly slipping out of bed, she tied her robe and made her way downstairs to the kitchen; she hoped that she still remembered how to cook properly, because living at Southfork, she hadn't once had to cook a meal. Even when she visited Austin, she didn't really have to do much; her mother was in the process of domestically training Kristin and she insisted that she practice her hospitality skills when Sue Ellen was there. Entering the kitchen, she stopped for a moment to admire the view of the lake from the large window; she was almost sad that they hadn't been here before now, because it really was the perfect place for a romantic weekend getaway. The large, white house was built on the lakefront of Lake Texoma, almost in the same architectural style as Southfork, it was even decorated similarly to Southfork outside, with white deckchairs and yellow umbrellas by the pool, and similar yellow and white striped awnings overhanging the windows. It had a completely different feeling to Southfork though, especially the interior, it was much calmer and airier than Southfork was. Where Southfork had dark wood interiors, the lake house was full of bright whites and light neutrals, it was automatically visually calming and a nice change from their everyday life; it gave Sue Ellen a real feeling of a mini-vacation, as if they really were somewhere completely different, not just outside of Dallas. Even though Southfork was a large ranch and had no neighbours, there was always something happening there; the house was always full of people, and the land was a working ranch. Of course, there was peace and quiet if one went looking for it, but at the lake house it was the opposite, stillness and quietness was the default and one had to drive into town to feel the hustle and bustle of everyday life; it wasn't any better or worse, it was just different. Sue Ellen acknowledged that her perception was probably biased; JR had told her that they would occasionally take family trips to the lake when he was younger, so if that was the case, then the house still would have been full of people, and the peace probably would have been disturbed. She would have probably have had a different impression of it then. It wasn't that she disliked living at Southfork, but sometimes she wondered whether their marriage would have been easier if they didn't live with the whole Ewing family; whether they would have had stronger communication if he just came home to his wife rather than the entire family. When there was trouble at Ewing Oil, it affected the mood at Southfork, and it made it difficult for Sue Ellen to get through to JR sometimes, especially when she had to sit through hours of tense conversation with no clue as to why things were so icy. JR tended to repress his real emotions when the family was around, bottling everything up and letting it stew until it grew so bad that he exploded; it made it a lot more difficult for Sue Ellen to be supportive and helpful when he was so wound up that he could barely have a rational conversation. Sometimes she wished that they lived alone so that he could have the luxury of coming home to a calm, quiet space, an environment where he could openly vent about his day without risking someone overhearing him and taking further offence. She really wanted to be a good wife, a good listener and communicator, but it wasn't easy. That's why she was enjoying the tranquillity of the lake house so much, it was a beautiful place, so idyllic and quiet, and it was just the two of them, there was no one else around to interfere in their business. She couldn't believe that it was only an 80-minute drive from Southfork, it was a world away from their life in Dallas.

JR awoke to the smell of coffee and food, and the sound of a tray being placed on the nightstand; he smiled as he opened his eyes and noticed that his wife was doing that thing again, the thing where she just sat there and watched him sleep, as if it were a fascinating activity. "Good morning", she leaned down and lightly kissed his lips as he opened his eyes and smiled at her; "morning darlin'", he sat up and looked over at the nightstand, surprised at just how much food she had made, though he knew shouldn't have been, all things considered. He had called ahead and had the pantry stocked, and her mother had trained her well, she knew how to cook, clean, iron, sew, and look after a man, she just hardly ever got the opportunity to use her domestic skills. "Mm, that was wonderful darlin'", JR set aside the tray as he finished his breakfast, "but I do have one little request", he grinned and paused while she looked at him, her eyes full of concern, as if she had done something wrong and all she wanted was the opportunity to correct her mistake, "tomorrow you let me watch". Sue Ellen was almost relieved when he gave a light-hearted request instead of a serious one, she would have been devastated if he had criticised her food after she put so much effort into it, though that didn't matter now, she was worrying for no reason again. "Absolutely", she smiled at him and giggled when he pulled her toward him, kissing her and untying her robe, making his intentions clear. She really did love the lake house already, if only for the fact that they were alone and were free to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted; she hoped that JR chose to take advantage of that, because she had certainly missed his attention lately.

To be continued…