Dallas, Texas

"Didn't anybody think I deserved to know about this before now?" glaring at his brother and parents, Bobby raised his voice as he spoke. While he had no legal claim on the old Wade ranch and wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop JR from purchasing the property, he did have a sentimental connection to the neighbouring land and would have appreciated JR informing him of his intentions privately before dropping the bomb on him in front of the whole family. It wasn't as if the news was a complete secret, his parents clearly knew of JR and Sue Ellen's plans and had had enough time to process the news that their eldest son, his wife and their youngest grandchild would soon be leaving the family home, because knowing them, acceptance of the news was not their first reaction. He felt aggrieved that his parents had been given the courtesy of hearing the intended news and had had enough time to come to terms with it, but he hadn't been informed of anything and hadn't had time to process his own thoughts and feelings before he was expected to congratulate his brother and sister-in-law on their newest purchase.

Ordinarily, he wouldn't have minded not being a part of the discussion prior to the official announcement that their offer had been accepted, because it wasn't really his business; and ordinarily, it wouldn't have been a difficult thing for him to congratulate JR and Sue Ellen in a situation like this, however, contextually, this wasn't an ordinary situation. The property his brother and sister-in-law had purchased wasn't just any property, it was one that held a lot of memories for him and while he hadn't thought about Jenna very much recently, it would be a lie to say that he was completely over her and the serious relationship she had left behind when she suddenly jilted him. He wasn't necessarily upset by the idea that JR and Sue Ellen were the new owners of Jenna's old house, it was just that he wished he had had time to come to terms with his feelings before the whole family launched into a spirited conversation about the new future of the property. Naturally, with any restoration and renovation project, many of the old, familiar features of the home would be erased and new things would take their place, and as he had only just heard the news, he hadn't quite come to terms with the magnitude of that reality. His memories were etched in his mind, but with his brother, sister-in-law and their son moving into the home and changing the way things were decorated and the general atmosphere, his memories would slowly start to become less and less vivid and perhaps, if he were very unlucky, they would become almost impossible to visualise. No longer would the third bedroom on the right of the upstairs hallway be 'Jenna's room', the room he naturally made his way up to when he arrived at the house; no, soon it would be 'John Ross' room', 'the guest room', 'the nursery' or some other room that lacked the sentimental feeling he previously associated with it.

It wasn't JR or Sue Ellen's fault that he had feelings he wasn't completely over, and he couldn't really blame them for wanting to live in their own home and wanting that home to be close to Southfork; the home they had chosen and the surprise of their news had really just come as a shock to him. In the heat of the moment, as the rest of the family excitedly discussed plans for the future, giving no regard to his feelings and personal history with the home, he had let his annoyance and shock get the better of him and had snapped, demanding answers for why he was left out of the loop until the last minute.

If he knew Sue Ellen, her intention hadn't been to purposely exclude him from the situation, so he didn't really blame her for not telling him; they weren't extremely close and no matter how much of an individual she was, there were certain things she simply allowed JR to take the lead in. Knowing JR though, he had either intentionally planned to surprise him with the news to get a reaction from him, or, he had been afraid that if he knew their plans beforehand, he would have attempted to do something to stop it going ahead. With JR, intentions weren't always immediately obvious, but in Bobby's experience with his brother, if he could get away with being mischievous and reaffirming his position as the older, smarter brother without being blamed for something, then he would. It had happened at Ewing Oil when he had first started working there; JR had intentionally set him tasks that would show his ineptitude and while it wasn't JR's fault that he wasn't a great oilman, it certainly hadn't been necessary for him to make a point of emphasising that. No, if he knew JR as well as he thought he did then this had all been planned and he'd fallen for it once again. Reacting badly to what was overall happy news only made him look bad; it didn't really validate his feelings any more than they already were. Of course he was allowed to be upset, but it didn't look good for him to project his upset and annoyance onto his brother and sister-in-law.

"Well Bob, it wasn't a done deal up until today, so obviously we didn't want to shout it too loud before we actually confirmed the plan. You'll understand in the future when you're making deals and waiting on confirmation that your efforts are going to be successful; it doesn't pay to be too loose lipped about prospective plans. We're telling you now though, that's enough, right? I'll tell you what, if we find anything in the house with your name on it, we'll be sure to pass it on to you". Grinning in amusement as Bobby reacted as predicted, JR then responded in a way that validated his reasons for hiding the news from his brother while also making him appear gracious and generous toward him. He'd always liked Jenna and he wouldn't have minded one bit if Bobby had eventually married her, but that didn't mean he saw their relationship as something so sacred that he needed Bobby's permission to go anywhere near anything that had a connection to her. Continuing to grin as he watched Bobby look flustered and annoyed that he wasn't participating in the fight, he then turned his attention back to his wife and parents. He and Sue Ellen were happily married, they had a wonderful son, he was the future owner and president of Ewing Oil, they were homeowners and most importantly, none of it had come at the expense of their relationship with his parents. All was well.

To be continued…

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