Vail, Colorado

"Look at those rings… why do you never buy me things like that?" slipping her fur-lined, leather gloves off her hands and placing them in her purse as she exited the cloakroom and entered the large converted barn, Sue Ellen silently wished she hadn't as she heard the loud whispers behind her, whispers that she was sure were about her. "I see them. I don't know what you're complaining about though; you have a whole box of jewellery at home". She and JR had been having a perfectly enjoyable day until they had boarded the horse drawn sleigh half an hour ago, then they had 'met' Peggy and Melvin, a young married couple who acted more like a bitter old married couple. Internally cringing with embarrassment as she tried to but failed at not listening to another couple's disagreement, she reached out to squeeze JR's hand to indicate to him she wanted him to move faster because the faster they found a table in the large rustic dining room, the sooner they could get back to relaxing. Unfortunately, in the meantime, she had to put up with the private but public argument going on behind her, one that made her uncomfortable mostly because she felt like she had been the catalyst for the current squabble and it always made her uncomfortable when her and JR's wealth was the topic of conversation for other people. "Yeah, costume jewellery. Those ain't no off-the-rack accessories, they're the real deal. You never buy me anything nice like that and when you do it's only because you'll get something out of it too. I know you didn't just buy me that mixer or that new iron because you thought I'd like them, I know you did it for your own good, because now I have no excuse not to make you a cake when you ask me to, and you can gleefully point out where I missed the wrinkles in your laundry". Feeling JR squeezing her hand back before moving his hand to rest on her lower back, she relaxed a little as he then guided them toward a table a few feet to their right; there were two and only two open seats and for that she was very grateful. Unfortunately, just as she and JR found their table for the evening, it appeared Peggy and Melvin were also successful, taking a seat at a table just a few yards from theirs and continuing their somewhat publicly inappropriate disagreement, oblivious to the world around them.

Scanning the large converted barn's dining room to see if there were any open seats further away from the unpleasant couple, JR refrained from muttering his thoughts under his breath, instead just thinking them and sharing a look with Sue Ellen. Seeing little acceptable available alternative seating, he looked at Sue Ellen with an arched eyebrow and then leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, whispering in her ear so only she could hear as he did so, "I quote 'it'll be fun and romantic, a sunset sleigh ride and campfire dinner'.It's funny that neither the brochure nor the hotel concierge mentioned the running commentary on everything but the scenery, or the fact that we would spend the first ten minutes of our time here competing with half of Colorado for seating because someone was too lazy to allocate tables beforehand". Grinning and shaking his head jokingly as he pulled back, he knew she understood he wasn't being completely serious, even if he was annoyed by the background bickering and inconvenient seating arrangements. Apart from the two big inconveniences, their day and evening had been very enjoyable so far and unless the little annoyances became absolutely too much, he was going to try to keep it that way.

Letting out a small laugh as JR whispered in her ear, Sue Ellen turned and faced him, raising her eyebrow as she looked at him. "I'll give you that one, this isn't exactly what I expected either, but before you smugly pat yourself on the back about being a better planner than I am, I remind you of our ski lesson this morning. I know Anna wasn't a random pairing for our first lesson and I know she wasn't accidentally overbooked this morning; you forget, I know you, I know you like to control things and I know you hate having people tell you what to do, least of all a woman who doesn't care about the Ewing name. I love you though, insecurity and all. Next time though, relax; I am not going to run off with any other man, let alone a ski instructor, so you don't have to go to such great lengths to control the situation and prevent things from occurring. I also don't care whether you're the absolute best at something or not, so you don't have to make up situations simply to change a small thing like our instructor because you're afraid her criticism will affect my opinion of you. I just like to see you having fun and I like it when you have fun with me, it doesn't matter how or where that happens", leaning up to kiss him on the cheek, she jumped a little as their tender moment was interrupted by Peggy's squawking. Unable to suppress her eye roll this time as she became privy to the details of another couple's inane disagreement, she then leaned closer to JR again, "scratch that thought, I want to amend what I just said. I love it when you're having fun with me, but I do rather enjoy seeing you exert that power of yours. Please, go over there, have a word with that man, pay him off, have him removed, something, I cannot deal with this all evening". Tilting her head and smiling in a way that looked friendly to anyone who was glancing at her, but that JR knew meant she was serious and reaching her tolerance limit, she was pleased when he grinned, nodded and stood up, muttering "it would be my pleasure" as he excused himself from the table. Watching as he pulled a young waiter aside and whispered something to him before handing him a small bundle of cash, she smiled smugly to herself and turned back toward the table. She was sure JR had everything under control now and she was free to enjoy her evening again, and enjoy it she would. The scenery riding out through the snow on a horse drawn sleigh had been spectacular, cosying up under a blanket with her husband had been very romantic, the converted barn was lovely, the food smelled delicious, and the atmosphere now that most people had found seating was buzzing; the scene was set for a positive evening and she felt good.

To be continued…