Dallas, Texas

"No mama, of course I want to see you and Kristin, it's just that I'm a little busy right now", Sue Ellen twisted the phone cord around her finger as she listened to her mother complain about what a terrible daughter she was for not inviting them to Southfork more often. She knew her mother and could read her tone of voice, her request was only partially about wanting to come to Southfork, the other half was something more personal, something she hadn't bothered to mention to Sue Ellen and was hoping that she didn't question. It was clear that her mother was withholding details from her and although she wanted to just come straight out and directly ask her what the real problem was, she didn't; she'd been raised to respect her mother's authority and although she was married and lived in another city, she still feared the punishment of speaking out of turn. She rolled her eyes as her mother began to question exactly what she was busy with and guilted her into explaining the reasons why she couldn't also include Kristin in her plans. It didn't escape her notice that her mother stopped short of asking to be included herself, but she didn't stop to think too much about it as she was preoccupied with responding to her mother's accusations of avoidance and snobbery. She looked at her calendar as she sat and listened to her mother speaking, from the way the conversation was going, it seemed inevitable that she would end up hosting her mother and sister for at least a weekend, probably longer if her mother got her way. It was almost a shame that they'd missed the Fourth of July party, it would've been the perfect weekend to invite her family, she would have been able to introduce them to a few people and wouldn't have had to spend all weekend playing hostess.

Taking a deep breath, she spoke, "mama, I've just looked at my calendar. I'm free two weeks from now, we could do the weekend, say the 23rd to the 25th, that's Friday through Sunday afternoon. How does that sound to you?" she waited for her mother to respond, noticing the unusually long pause she took before she spoke again, another unusual thing for her mother to do. "You're sure you aren't free next week? I know Kristin would just love to spend a little bit longer at Southfork, a weekend just isn't enough time to experience everything"; Sue Ellen rolled her eyes again as her mother spoke, no longer did it sound like she just wanted to visit, it was becoming more apparent that she already had plans and needed a babysitter. "No mama, I told you, I have commitments and they really aren't things I can just drop or things that Kristin would be interested in. I am free two weeks from now if you would like to visit, but if it's inconvenient for you then we can reschedule for a later date this summer", she smiled to herself as she replied, it felt good to have the upper hand in the conversation. She'd learned a few things from JR about negotiating; she hadn't completely turned down her mother's request, but she'd made it clear that if she wanted it to happen, then they'd have to work on her terms. It would be clear from her mother's response to the offer whether she was actually interested in visiting her or whether she just needed someone to take care of Kristin while she was off doing whatever it was that she had planned. "I suppose that's fine, we'll come up on the Friday and I'll leave on Sunday evening, but I meant what I said about Kristin, she loves Southfork and she's on summer vacation, it's the perfect time for you two to spend some time together. I have to go now, but we'll speak later in the week to discuss the finer details", they said their goodbyes and Sue Ellen hung up, relieved that the conversation was over, but also a little annoyed that she had been ambushed and pushed her into a decision that she hadn't really agreed to. It was just like her mother to end the discussion as soon as she got her way; she was getting the Kristin-free week that she clearly wanted and she definitely expected Sue Ellen to plan everything, including paying for their flights. It was something she didn't mind doing, JR had no problem with her spending money, but her mother's entitlement was rather irritating, she just expected Sue Ellen to fund her lifestyle without question; she had raised her daughters to marry wealthy men not only for themselves, but for her own wellbeing too. She pencilled their visit into her calendar and sighed, a weekend with her family was ok, but a whole week entertaining her sister was not something she was looking forward to.

"JR?" Sue Ellen had been thinking about it all afternoon, her mother was definitely hiding something, she had been very insistent that Kristin stay a week and she had pushed hard for next week specifically, it just seemed suspicious seeing as Kristin didn't go back to school until the fall. JR looked up at his wife as he changed for dinner; he'd been making a special effort to come home on time the past few days and actually spend a little bit of time listening to her and asking her about her day. Their conversation earlier in the week had been a reminder to him that she was a dedicated wife and although he had other things going on in his life, she didn't know about any of that and still expected him to at least pay attention to her when they were alone together. "Yes darlin'?" he watched her as she nervously looked at him and tried to word her sentence in an inoffensive way, though he wasn't at all offended by what she was inferring, he was actually flattered; she didn't want to know how he did it, she just needed his help finding out a little bit of information about someone. "I can do that…" he nodded and waited for her to explain the situation, surprised when she mentioned that it was her mother's actions that she wanted him to look into; he'd always been a little suspicious of Patricia's motivations, but he never thought he'd hear his wife asking him to investigate further. Sue Ellen was relieved when JR didn't seem upset about what she was alluding to; being with him for four years, she had learned a few things about how he did business; he always had the upper hand, even when he pretended not to, and sometimes he went to somewhat unethical means to get that upper hand. Her mother was probably a lot more transparent than the usual people he had investigated, but she didn't personally have the skills to find out the information she wanted, so using JR's resources seemed like a good idea, and she was glad that he'd agreed without argument. Her mother was hiding something and she was determined to find out what it was.

To be continued…