Dallas, Texas

"I'll talk to Jock about it, I know that we're not using all of our pastures, even when my daddy ran the ranch we never used all of our land at the same time. I'm sure there's a small piece free for us to use", Miss Ellie smiled at Sue Ellen as she led their committee meeting, encouraging her to continue. She had been pleasantly surprised by Sue Ellen's take-charge attitude since she had assumed the role of chair for the project and she wanted to see Sue Ellen continue to develop in that way, it was a nice change from the meek, quiet girl that she usually was. It was apparent from her enthusiasm that Sue Ellen seemed to really enjoy being in control of something; she'd been involved in a lot of charity work when she was Miss Texas and in the past year as a member of the DOA, but this was her first time leading and she was enjoying the new experience. As she led the meeting, they discussed the activities they would provide for the underprivileged teenage girls and she delegated tasks and responsibilities to each of the women in the committee. "Ok, so let me run through this one last time before we finish. Each lady will be assigned one girl to spend time with one-on-one and will organize one group activity for the girls when they come together once a week. Miss Ellie and I will organize horse riding and a bonfire night at Southfork; Marilee will provide use of her yacht for a day trip to Lake Ray Hubbard; Linda will organize a VIP visit to Six Flags Over Texas; Evelyn will…" she listed each of the things assigned to the women before calling the meeting to a close. Sue Ellen smiled to herself as she and Miss Ellie left Mavis Anderson's house; it was nice to feel like she was needed and it was nice to be in control, two things that she lacked in her marriage as of late. It felt good to be responsible for bringing other people happiness, especially since it was a group that she somewhat identified with, it hadn't been that long since she was a teenager and she remembered how difficult it had been, she imagined that being underprivileged would have made it even more unpleasant.

"I'm sorry for interrupting Jock", Julie knocked and entered his office, disturbing the meeting between Jock, Bobby and JR though she hadn't really interrupted anything important, they were mostly just tossing ideas back and forth about the pros and cons of cold weather drilling, it wasn't urgent. "Yes Julie?" the three men turned as she entered the room and JR was surprised that she didn't even seem to be paying attention to him, it was unusual behaviour for her, usually she was always trying to get his attention in some way. "The foreman from Ewing Eight is on the line, he said he needed to speak to JR urgently", Jock's face paled as Julie spoke, Ewing Eight was one of the original wells, the foreman was experienced and well able to manage the drilling there on his own, if he was calling Dallas then something had to be wrong. JR's stomach flipped as Julie said that the foreman wanted to speak to him specifically, he'd made a few changes a while ago, changes he'd really only briefly run past his father; if something was wrong, then he would definitely be getting the blame. "Put it on speaker, I want to hear this", Jock commented gruffly to JR as he picked up the phone, "Joe?" JR cautiously answered the call, keenly aware that his father was now watching him with great suspicion. "Mr Ewing, you told me to call if there was any change; well, there has been. I think we're close, really close; if my estimations are correct, probably in the next few hours or so. I just thought you'd want to know", JR's face changed from a concerned expression to a gleeful grin as Joe spoke, he wasn't in trouble at all, things were fine, better than fine, they were excellent. He'd been right, there was more oil on the Ewing Eight land than they were currently drilling for, and his chance exploration had finally paid off; his father would have to be pleased with him, his decision was about to increase Ewing Oil's profits by millions. "Thanks Joe, I'll be there this afternoon", he grinned at his father as Jock and Bobby looked at him confusedly; "well? Spit it out boy", Jock was not pleased about being left in the dark on whatever JR was so happy about, he was the president, he should have known about everything Ewing Oil was involved in, but it appeared that he didn't. "Well daddy, if we leave now, we'll be able to witness Ewing Oil's newest well hitting oil. Come on, I'll explain everything in the helicopter", he was too excited to stop and chat, the thrill of seeing them strike oil again was energizing and he didn't want to miss it. "Fine, let's go", Jock was still a little angry about not being informed of the exploration work at Ewing Eight, but as JR gave a small explanation, his anger began to subside. JR was a good oilman, he knew how to make money and he did have Ewing Oil's best interests at heart, even if his methods of doing business were often uncustomary. He couldn't really blame JR for his actions now, they'd just made them a huge profit, something that was to be celebrated in any circumstance.

"Sue Ellen?" Miss Ellie knocked on the bedroom door and waited for her to answer, she had good news, but it probably wasn't what Sue Ellen wanted to hear. It hadn't been so obvious in the beginning, but it was becoming increasingly clear now that Sue Ellen had had a hard time adapting to life as a Ewing wife after the honeymoon period ended and it wasn't getting any easier for her. For Ellie, Jock's work and responsibilities were expected and accepted, she understood what he had to do and she'd adapted her lifestyle to accommodate his schedule; she was available to be with him whenever he wanted her to, but when he was busy, she still led a full life of her own, something Sue Ellen hadn't mastered yet. That was why she felt it was so important to include Sue Ellen in DOA activities and why she wished that she would be blessed with a child soon, those things would give her life meaning and purpose, they'd provide something constructive for her to focus her time and energy on instead of spending her time constantly thinking and worrying. "Hello Miss Ellie", Sue Ellen smiled warmly as she opened the bedroom door, she was in a good mood from the events of the DOA meeting earlier. "Please, come in", she opened the door wider and allowed her mother-in-law into the bedroom, her smile dropping as she noticed her facial expression. Miss Ellie was conflicted, on one hand, she was happy for Jock, she knew how much he loved seeing an oil well hit; but on the other hand, it was going to be a blow for Sue Ellen to hear that her husband was going to be away for the night again, an all too common occurrence lately. "Sue Ellen, I just got off the phone with Jock…" she felt awful as she explained the situation, especially when she realised that Sue Ellen was mentally questioning why JR hadn't called her himself. Her son had never really been very considerate of other people's feelings, it was just the way he was and everyone accepted it; unfortunately, he'd married Sue Ellen, a sensitive girl, they were just on two completely different levels with their communication needs, leading Sue Ellen to feel disappointment and upset on almost a daily basis. "Well, they struck oil, that's always good news", Sue Ellen put on her best fake smile and accepted the message; deep down, she knew that it wasn't good for her to bury her feelings, but it didn't seem appropriate to get upset in front of her mother-in-law, especially about something so silly. "Yes, I'm sure they'll be home tomorrow", Miss Ellie smiled and left Sue Ellen to finish getting ready for dinner; she was secretly concerned about the effect everything had on her, but she said nothing, she didn't think it was her place to interfere in JR and Sue Ellen's marriage, at least not yet anyway.

To be continued…

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