Dallas, Texas

Looking over her shoulder at JR as she stood at the drinks cart before dinner, Sue Ellen answered her husband's question casually, "my day? It was good; I went in to volunteer for a couple of hours this morning and we went to the park this afternoon". Receiving little verbal encouragement or discouragement from him in response, she paused for a few seconds to finish making his drink before turning completely and walking back toward him and continuing, "we don't have to talk about it, but for the sake of transparency, I also had lunch with Pamela today". Handing him his drink, she took a seat next to him, touching his arm gently and silently taking note of John Ross' position at their feet; their little boy's presence was likely to keep him in check even if he didn't feel particularly warmly toward her budding friendship with Pamela. He had asked her to keep him updated though and that's what she would do, but he had to keep his end of the bargain too, he had to respect her decisions, as he should anyway, he was her husband and she was not doing anything wrong by looking to make friends.

"Don't worry, you won't have to do that for much longer", finally saying something in response to her comments, his words were hardly reassuring or supportive, in fact the way he said what he did was the opposite of what she was looking for from him. "What does that mean?" keeping an even tone of voice as to not upset John Ross, she frowned as she questioned him; she'd had a good time with Pamela earlier and she didn't want to have yet another discussion about why that was, all she wanted was to inform him of that and move on.

"It means, I was going to wait until after dinner to tell you, but I had a meeting of my own today, working on what you asked me to, finding you someone to spend time with outside of your efforts", answering her, she immediately felt guilty for jumping to conclusions about his lack of support. "Oh? Who with?" curious, her earlier frown disappeared, replaced by a hesitant smile; she hadn't forgotten his comments about Pamela, but she was interested in what developments he'd made.

"Jenna Wade. I was driving out to visit one of the fields earlier and the idea came to me, so I made it happen. We had coffee and talked, not for long but long enough to set a date for her to join us for tea, and by us I mean you, but I'll be there to begin with, to introduce you two. You'll like her, she's not dull, older, or particularly conservative, and best of all she's not like those women in your baby group, she's one of us, she won't stare or require explanation for the privileges you have, she understands them already". Explaining his choice to her, quite proudly it appeared, she couldn't help but smile too; this time it seemed he'd actually thought about who he was introducing her to instead of selecting a woman at random like he had Anna, no matter how nice she had turned out to be. He probably did make a good point about Jenna Wade, from what she'd been told in the past it sounded as if she had grown up as one of them, so closely that she and Bobby had been engaged to be married, the fact that she and Bobby weren't married now though did raise a few concerns for her.

"Jenna Wade? I thought we agreed not to disturb her life?" although she was pleased by JR's thoughtfulness, she was also hesitant about his decisions. Until recently, Bobby had been lonely and single and she had considered trying to introduce Jenna back into his life to try make him happy, only deciding not to when she read JR's report and had second thoughts about his data collection methods and what interfering really meant. After scrapping her plan, Bobby's circumstances had changed, partially thanks to her, but mostly thanks to him and Pamela, and now he was no longer looking for more than temporary companionship with a woman, he had a girlfriend, a new girlfriend, and she could only imagine what trouble Jenna's reintroduction would cause now.

"That was in relation to her and Bobby, this isn't about Bob, this is about you", answering her smoothly, as if he had none of the same concerns she did, JR placed his hand on her thigh, gently rubbing his thumb back and forth as he asked her a question she knew was baiting, "you are happy, aren't you?" Looking her in the eye as he spoke, she felt herself slipping under his spell, exactly as he wanted her to, she was sure, he knew her, he knew how and where she liked him to touch her and he knew what to say to soften her and dispel her concerns.

"Of course I'm happy. I'm concerned too though. You say it's about me as if my life is a completely separate thing to Bobby's", responding to him in a concerned tone, she knew instantly that she had to create some distance between them when he quietly raised his finger to her lips and shook his head at her. "You think too much darlin'", answering her in the same smooth voice he'd used earlier, mostly ignoring her concerns, she frowned in response; he couldn't silence her by simply disregarding what she had to say.

"JR… you know it's not that simple", sighing, she stood, sidestepped John Ross and took a seat in one of the armchairs, still close enough to talk to JR, but creating some space between them. "How long do you think we can keep things just between me and Jenna for? My bet's not long considering how much we see the family, and depending on how Jenna feels, that time could be even shorter, and while that wouldn't have been a problem until recently, now it is; things have changed with Bobby and I don't want to be responsible for them changing again, this time not for the better". Expressing her concerns, her annoyance with him began to surface; he was putting her in a difficult position even if his intentions were pure, which she didn't really believe they were, as much as she might want to.

"Relax darlin', she's a lot more receptive to meeting you than she is to coming back to Dallas to win my little brother back again. She even insinuated that she might be seeing someone, so she's not even available, which knowing Jenna, is probably true; you'll understand when you meet her, she's very confident, she knows what she wants and she gets it". Answering her again, he seemed to avoid her real concerns, though the little titbit about Jenna potentially already having a man of her own did go a small way toward reassuring her that she wasn't entering into a meeting which was sure to sabotage Bobby and Pamela's new relationship.

"My point exactly. Bobby is already seeing someone, someone I happen to like, and I don't want to be in the middle of the problems that are possibly about to follow if we bring Jenna Wade into our lives. If Jenna wants Bobby, then from what you say, she'll pursue him, and I don't want to doubt Bobby's dedication to Pamela, but I know how easy it can be to be tempted by the easier, more universally appealing option. You've made no secret of your dislike of Pamela, equally, you've made no secret of your favourable opinion of Jenna, specifically Jenna and Bobby, so if Bobby has a choice of the smooth, easy path with Jenna and the bumpier, more difficult path with Pamela, then he has a decision to make and I fear Pamela will lose". Telling him more of her fears, she felt as if they were finally getting somewhere when he actually looked at her as if he was listening rather than as if he was thinking about how to distract her and stop her talking.

"Darlin', if you don't want to be in the middle or seen to be interfering, then don't, it's as easy and simple as that. You focus on you, you and Jenna and if you continue to insist, you and Pamela, don't say anything to Bobby, let him make that decision, he's a grown man…" Answering her, it seemed that her previous thoughts about him properly listening to her had been a little premature, because he'd again ignored a whole part of what she was saying, instead focusing on what made their interaction smoother and easier for him. "As for my preferences, so what if I prefer Jenna to Pamela? Like I said before, I did this for you, not Bob, and when I spoke to Jenna she made it clear she was agreeing to meet you because she wanted to, in her words, 'your wife must be an impressive lady'. Don't ruin this for yourself because you're so concerned about Bobby's relationships, especially when you keep saying you don't want to interfere". Reminding her that Bobby and Pamela weren't actually the ones they were discussing, he put the decision back on her, making sure she thought about whether he was right about her ruining things for herself by saying no too early.

"Ok…" breathing out as she responded, she decided to take what he was saying on board and absolve herself of responsibility for a relationship that wasn't hers and that she didn't want to be a part of, and instead focus on what she did want, a friend, "so, when do I get to meet Jenna?" She couldn't pretend she wasn't interested, she'd been interested for a long time, even asking JR to find out what he could about Jenna, not only for Bobby's sake, but to satisfy her own curiosity. What made her keener though was Jenna's apparent interest in her, she had no background on her yet she wanted to meet her, that was flattering. She didn't believe JR had done what he'd done purely to make her happy, but if he wanted to play it that way then he could, for now, until she could get him in a different mood, one where he was more willing to admit that what was good for her was also good for him.

To be continued…