Dallas, Texas

Awakened by the phone ringing, Sue Ellen flipped on the light and sat up in bed to answer the call, "hello?"

"Sue Ellen, it's Jenna", announcing herself the way she had almost two weeks earlier, Jenna sounded far more panicked this time.

"Jenna?" repeating her name as a greeting and to let JR know who was on the other end of the line, she worried about the reason for Jenna's call. She tried to be strong and resilient but life had been piling more and more on top of her recently and she wasn't sure she could cope with another tragedy if that's why Jenna was calling.

"I know it's late again, I'm sorry, I just didn't know who to call", apologising, her anxiety was obvious, something was definitely wrong.

Looking at the clock, she noted it wasn't as late as she'd thought, she and JR had only been asleep for an hour or so, but even still, it was late enough that a call was definitely a surprise. Cautious, she asked, "what happened?"

"Bobby's back", rushing the words, her tone indicated there was definitely more to the situation.

"Again?" fully aware that this wasn't the first time Bobby had shown up on Jenna's doorstep in an emotional state, she had to wonder what was different this time.

"Mhm and Richard is not happy about it", answering her, Jenna was light on detail, giving only a vague explanation of what was happening and why.

"Why not? What's different this time?" feeling for Bobby, who'd lost his wife, son, and mother in a very short period, it seemed harsh to her that Richard would be so selfish when Bobby was vulnerable and asking for assistance, but she didn't have the details associated with that decision and until she did, she knew she should keep an open mind.

"Bobby came to see me", revealing a little more information, things slowly became clearer. She guessed that one unexpected visit was understandable but a second was the beginning of a habit.

"Not Charlie?" it was one thing for Bobby to wish to speak with Charlie, who in his grieving, muddled mind appeared to be the only child he had left, but it was another for him to seek out Jenna herself. Whether or not he had any romantic interest in Jenna anymore was unclear, it was unimportant too seeing as Jenna was already in a relationship and as much as she ran around Dallas like a single lady, when it came down to it, there was someone else to consider. Bobby showing up wanting to speak to Jenna was potentially completely platonic, but their history as lovers made things complicated, or very simple from Richard's perspective.

"No, not Charlie", confirming the information, she paused for a few seconds before continuing, "he can't stay, but I don't think he should be driving, not even into town to get a hotel for the night, but Richard is happy enough to throw him out".

Sighing, she felt ill; she didn't blame Bobby, she empathised with him, but there was so much going on that it was definitely taking its toll on her.

Considering things, it didn't take her long to figure out what to do, she just needed to find out what she'd be asking JR to deal with before she asked him to do it. "I know I asked this last time and he hadn't, but has he been drinking?"

"No, he's just distracted and frankly skittish. He wants to talk to me and we talked, but he's not really in a good state to have the conversations he wants to have and I'm not in a position to take care of him until he is in a better frame of mind", clearly concerned, Jenna described a scene she could easily imagine. Bobby hadn't been around much at all recently but every time she'd seen him the emotional toll of what had occurred in his life had been obvious. He probably wanted comfort, that wasn't so difficult to understand, even JR had been in a different emotional place since Miss Ellie's sudden loss, the problem was just that Bobby no longer had a wife to turn to to fulfil his grieving needs.

"I'll let JR know, can you keep him there a little longer?" sure of what needed to happen now, she sought confirmation that Bobby and Jenna could wait out the time it would take to drive from Dallas to Tyler.

"I think so. As long as Richard knows he's going eventually things should be ok. Will JR come and get him?" asking for what she likely had in mind before she'd even dialled their phone number, Jenna's question came off sounding more desperate than manipulative. It was no secret that she had some unresolved feelings for Bobby, but it was also incredibly obvious how uncomfortable she was with being put in the position she was in now, unable to give Bobby what he needed without it harming her relationship with Richard.

"Someone will", vague because she didn't want to commit JR to the job without first clearing it with him, she said the next best thing.

"Thank you", responding quickly, Jenna sounded genuinely relieved.

"You're welcome. Now, I know you're worried about Bobby and Richard but it'll all work out soon, you'll see", doing her best to keep Jenna's spirits up, she hoped it would be as easy as she made it sound although she knew grief was rarely that simple.

Saying their goodbyes, she hung up and turned to JR to explain the situation to him in case he hadn't already gathered what had happened from listening to her side of the conversation.

Appearing tired, both from being woken up in the night and from the weight of everything that had happened recently in their marriage, at work, and within the family, JR didn't complain, just threw the sheet off him and murmured, "I'll get Ray to come with me, he can drive Bobby's car back".

"I know you don't need this, but thank you", touching his hand to get him to look up, she leaned over and kissed him, showing him she appreciated his willingness to look out for his family, then let him go, watching him get out of bed to change clothes.

To be continued…