Dallas, Texas

After asking Teresa to prepare two mugs of hot chocolate, Sue Ellen thanked her and then left the kitchen, making her way upstairs to Lucy's bedroom where she had sent her young niece to wait for her. She and JR were on different pages when it came to 'parenting' Lucy; she didn't see any point in shouting at her when she was clearly upset; her language toward JR had been rude and unnecessary, but it had clearly come from somewhere, and if they wanted an honest answer as to where, they needed to approach the situation tactfully. JR on the other hand didn't have much time for Lucy when she acted the way she had when they'd first arrived home. He was mature and calm enough to know not to engage in an argument with her, because it wouldn't benefit anyone in the end, but he also had no patience or tolerance for listening to her when she was in a mood like she seemed to be in now. Each understanding the way the other was though, they had naturally separated from each other after the initial confrontation with Lucy. As JR headed upstairs to look in on John Ross during his morning nap, Sue Ellen attempted to get on an equal footing with Lucy, partly because she wanted answers and partly because she could see the young girl was upset, even if it was showing as anger on the outside.

Upstairs, sitting in her bedroom alone, Lucy suddenly felt guilty. She was angry and upset with JR, but she had never intended to upset or worry Sue Ellen, and if the concerned tone of voice she had used earlier was any indication, that was exactly what she had done. Sue Ellen was kind, understanding and at times, almost like a friend rather than an adult family member, and because of the loose friendship they had, Lucy felt guilty for inadvertently hurting her; she hadn't meant to and she didn't want to damage their relationship. Hearing a knock at the door, her thoughts were brought back to the present and as she stood to open it, she made a promise to herself; she wouldn't direct the anger she felt toward JR at Sue Ellen, even if she suspected Sue Ellen was somehow involved in the reason why her grandparents had been fighting. The fact of the matter was, Ewing women were strong, but their husbands were stronger, so if Sue Ellen was involved, it was probably still JR's fault.

Ten minutes later, after finding a comfortable spot to sit on Lucy's bed and opening the conversation with a few general comments about what had been happening in their lives recently, Sue Ellen then paused, took a sip of her hot chocolate and gathered her thoughts before directly approaching the question, "Lucy dear, tell me why you were upset earlier. Why were you shouting at JR?"

Down the hall, JR watched his son sleeping for a few minutes before turning his thoughts toward the situation with Lucy, more specifically, what she had said about her grandparents, his parents. She has said she hated him, that was nothing new, what was new information though was her comment about his parents arguing and how somehow, she had connected their argument to him. For reasons currently unknown to him, his niece seemed to believe he had done something to 'ruin' the good situation everyone was currently in. He was puzzled by what she had been inferring with her comments though, because as far as he was aware and was concerned, his relationship with both of his parents now wasn't all too different to how it usually was. His father hadn't been thrilled about getting rid of the morality clause in his contract and he definitely hadn't been too pleased to hear about his and Sue Ellen's intended move, away from Southfork, especially before he'd found out where they intended to move, however, both of those things were old news and had been closed matters for a while. Likewise, his relationship with his mother was just fine as far as he was concerned; she was thrilled to see him finally being a proper husband to Sue Ellen and she had always been proud of the way he had acted when it came to John Ross. His mother had been a little upset at the thought of them leaving Southfork, but once she had heard about their intended purchase of the old Wade ranch land and had heard straight from Sue Ellen that she didn't intend for John Ross to be a stranger, she had quickly come around to the idea. The relationship he had with his parents hadn't changed recently and he hadn't done anything that would be cause for conflict, so if his parents were arguing, then it had nothing to do with him. Lucy had to be mistaken or exaggerating, otherwise nothing she had said made any sense.

Unfortunately, although he knew it was probably best to just wait quietly for Sue Ellen to return to him with a more detailed explanation for Lucy's outburst, he had never been very good at doing nothing and allowing other people to take control, so he felt the need to do a little investigating of his own. It was Sunday, family day, so surely he, Sue Ellen, John Ross and Lucy were not the only members of the Ewing family around, even if they appeared to be the only ones actually in the house at the moment. Bobby was a young, single man who was known for his sociable, likeable personality, so there was no guarantee he had returned home from wherever he had gone the previous evening, however, his parents were more predictable and dependable, they had to be around somewhere and if they were, JR would find them. He wanted answers and Doctor Williams had taught him not to just take one side of a situation as the whole truth, so if while Sue Ellen was gleaning information from Lucy, he could be doing equally helpful work in the form of seeking answers from his parents and/or brother, then that's what he would do. The sooner he could get to the bottom of the situation and get back to enjoying his life as it had been recently, the better.

To be continued…