Dallas, Texas

"I do have to warn you, from the information available, it appears that no one has been inside the house for years, so the cleanliness and general state of the home probably isn't exactly on the same level as the previous homes you've looked at. I'm not trying to put you off purchasing the property, especially not before you've even seen it, I just wanted to make sure you understand what you're likely to be walking into". Standing outside on the Southfork driveway as she and JR met with Mr Wilson prior to their scheduled viewing of their potential new home, Sue Ellen's stomach dropped. She and JR had put so much time and effort into researching, deciding, pursuing and convincing everyone that the old Wade ranch was the perfect property for them; however, most of their words had been based on their fantasy ideas, not complete, honest reality. Without having viewed the properly themselves, JR's memories and Sue Ellen's few glimpses of the ranch from when she rode her horse around the outer edges of Southfork land weren't exactly reliable or valid sources for the information, so hearing Mr Wilson's words, she began to worry about disappointment and what their future held. Of course, factually, their opinion and argument about why it was the perfect property for them wasn't a wrong one, because after getting a reluctant handshake of support from Jock and a shaky, but heartfelt blessing from Miss Ellie, JR had quickly moved forward with gathering relevant information from the Braddock County Assessor. Both she and JR were well aware though that although everything could look good on paper and could sound good in their heads, no amount of property statistics, tax and ownership files or old memories could surpass the importance of actually viewing and inspecting the property as it was now.

"Of course", nodding, she politely and quietly responded to Mr Wilson before looking over at JR. Her husband didn't appear to be too surprised or bothered by their real estate agent's words and she hoped that was because he had some deeper understanding of construction and property than she did, not just because he wasn't bothered by the possibility that their ideal home may not be so ideal after all. They had discussed the possibility of the home not being structurally sound and had agreed that if completely necessary, if the land felt right, they could demolish and build their own home on the property, however, optimistically, they were hoping that the home was in a relatively good condition, because building a home was a much longer process than purchasing. Ideally, they wanted to be able to move into their new home before the end of the year, but with Thanksgiving and Christmas fast approaching, she knew that if they didn't find a home soon, their plans would inevitably slow down as the busy holiday season began. Hearing Mr Wilson's warning didn't make her feel very optimistic that that plan was one that would actually come to fruition, however, if being completely satisfied with their dream home before moving in meant that they needed to wait for necessary renovations, structural reinforcement, redecoration or a complete rebuild, then she was willing to wait. Her impatience was just that, impatience; there was no real reason to rush things through; ideally though, the less amount of work a property needed doing to it before they moved in, the better, so she hoped that Mr Wilson's warning was an exaggeration, not a description of reality.

Looking out the window as they drove down the long driveway, passing underneath the now overgrown trees, JR's thoughts moved back in time. Location-wise, the old Wade ranch was very close to where he spent a lot of time, at home, with his family, however, it had been many years since he'd given any thought to the property and probably even longer since he'd physically set foot on the land adjacent to Southfork. He and Jenna had never been close the way Bobby and Jenna were, but he had always liked her and as the Ewing and Wade families had been friends, he had attended many social events at the neighbouring ranch, so it was strange being back here now, under very different circumstances. The property hadn't been owned by the Wade family for years, but since it had been purchased in an estate auction by a property investment group, one who had purchased it purely because of the speculated future growth of Dallas and surrounding areas, none of the Ewings had ever moved on from thinking of it as the old Wade ranch. Despite Mr Wilson's warnings, the personal history the property held, and his own personal understanding of property neglect, he still had a good feeling about the old Wade ranch. He and Sue Ellen had discussed it at length and he knew that although she would probably be shocked by the state of a building that was essentially abandoned, it wasn't all bad; he was JR Ewing, he could make things happen and he could make them happen quickly, and whatever his wife wanted, she would get.

An hour later, Sue Ellen felt shocked, confused, angry, happy and hopeful, all at the same time. Sitting in the Southfork living room with Miss Ellie as they watched John Ross happily crinkling and patting his textured book and stacking his coloured rings, she gave her mother-in-law a quick explanation of the state of the old Wade ranch before promptly inserting her opinion about the home. "It's terrible. I don't could anyone purchase such a lovely property and then just allow the home on that property to just sit empty and deteriorate. The architectural details in the house are beautiful, but unfortunately, at best, they're covered by a thick layer of dust and at worst, they're either broken or rotting away. Almost a decade of Texas storms followed by a lack of general maintenance or even just human presence has been disastrous for that home…" Shaking her head as she remembered everything and relayed her thoughts, she sighed to herself; she really did love the home, but it certainly wasn't what she had expected and she really had no idea what her and JR's next move was. She didn't want to have to wait months to build a new home, but from the state of the current home on the neighbouring property, it was clear that there was no way a quick redecoration would suffice.

To be continued…