Dallas, Texas

"…it's ideal. We want to live in Braddock County and we want a large property, but we don't want to have to run our own ranch or shut down whatever ranch business is currently operating; we want to live close to Southfork, but not on Southfork; and we want a home large enough to accommodate our possible future family. Granted, I've never been inside the house or onto the land, I've only seen it from afar, but in general, it seems like the perfect solution. There's no way your daddy can object to us just moving a few miles down the street, especially since the two sections are right next to each other . Your mama said that she doesn't know who owns it now, but that it's definitely no one in the Wade family and as far as she's aware, whoever does own it has no real plans to do anything with it, because apart from the occasional hay baling, it's been sitting vacant for at least seven or eight years now. It makes sense why Mr Wilson wouldn't have suggested it to us though, because it's not currently for sale, so naturally, it doesn't show up in the list of available properties. If what your mama said is true though, I was thinking that perhaps the current owner would be willing to sell it… to us. Obviously I didn't say anything to your mama and I haven't done anything more with the information I know, because I wanted to speak to you first to see what you thought about the overall idea. I did a lot of thinking today though, and I still firmly believe that before we even make any further enquiries about available properties in Braddock County, we really need to tell your mama and daddy about our plan to move. All of this thinking happened this morning though, before you called me to tell me what your lawyer said, so I suppose I really don't need to reiterate my feelings…" realising that she had just thrown a lot of information at him all at once and was beginning to ramble, Sue Ellen trailed off into silence. Hoping that JR didn't find her idea completely ridiculous, she looked at him with wide eyes and waited for a response.

As he listened to his wife marvelling at her new discovery, one that was hidden-in-plain-sight and really was a good idea, provided that they could track down the owner and negotiate a deal, JR couldn't help but smirk to himself at the secondary benefit of moving into the old Wade ranch house; it would certainly annoy Bobby. It was obvious from Sue Ellen's earlier explanation about her conversation with his mother that she knew some of the history of the neighbouring ranch; however, it was also obvious that she was unaware of the significance of the Wade family to certain members of the Ewing family. His father and Lucas Wade had been friends and neighbours for decades, but the relationship that connected the two families more than the two patriarchs was the relationship between their children. Jenna Wade and Bobby Ewing had been friends since they were young children and as they'd grown older together, their relationship had matured into something much deeper than friendship. They had been engaged, but for reasons JR wasn't privy to, Jenna had abruptly upped and left Dallas one day, leaving Bobby heartbroken and confused and taking with her a huge secret. Prior to the breakup of Bobby and Jenna's relationship though, there had been an even bigger event; at just fifty-five years of age, Lucas Wade had died suddenly, leaving behind his young, unprepared daughter and a vast collection of unpaid bills and judgements. JR had been too involved in his own personal life and his work at Ewing Oil to really pay attention to who had purchased the Wade family assets, the biggest being the vast estate located adjacent to Southfork, however, he was much more focused now, so he was sure that he could easily find out that information. Considering it himself, Sue Ellen's idea made a lot of sense and since she appeared to be very passionate about it, he had a good feeling about the situation too. They had agreed a long time ago that this was the right decision for them, so if she wanted to arrange a viewing and potentially make an offer to buy the former Wade ranch, then he was completely on board with that idea, provided that the house and land met all of their requirements of course.

"The Wade ranch…" thoroughly amused by the thought of how ironic it would be for he and Sue Ellen to end up owning and living in a home that held more memories for Bobby than it did for either of them, JR then grinned at his wife and stepped closer to her, resting his arms on her shoulders. "I'll make a few calls and find out who currently owns that land; it shouldn't be too difficult, property sales and purchases are public records. Once we know that information, then we'll be in a better position to negotiate; that's when we'll introduce Mr Wilson to this knowledge; he can do all of the pre-sale checks and write up the contracts, but prior to that, I want to know who or what I'm dealing with. Before any of that though, you're right, we do need to talk to mama and daddy, I understand that now, so that's exactly what we'll do. I want this, I want us to have our own home and have time to spend together as our own family, so whatever it takes to make that happen, I'll do it. Daddy may not react positively to the news at first, but I'm sure that as he comes to terms with what is really only a slight change in physical distance and time spent together, he'll come around, and eventually, he'll be happy for us. I know everything will work out in the end, I'll make sure it does". Giving her the best answer he could think of in the moment and seeing her overjoyed reaction to his words, he then leaned down and kissed her. Their kisses always managed to convey how they felt, often much more strongly than their words could, and right now, they both knew exactly how the other felt: happy, optimistic and in love.

To be continued…