Dallas, Texas
Surprisingly, because she was usually more controlled, once she'd started speaking she hadn't been able to stop. She didn't know JR Ewing, nor did she really trust him or expect him to care, but unlike earlier where he'd come across as hostile, his demeanour had changed as she'd begun to open up.
Listening quietly to her story, JR waited for her to finish, thinking for a few seconds before responding, "so I know what I suspect, but what do you suspect?"
"Well, my mother was in her mid-twenties when she married my father, so she certainly had the opportunity to have a family before our family, but I can't find any record of that. I've looked in her personal records and tried to research public records too, unfortunately it's not that clear." Assuming that her mother was keeping watch of her former family from afar, she couldn't quite bring herself to say it aloud, because other than her intuition she couldn't find any evidence to support her theory.
"So you think Pamela was your sister?" dumping all of the ifs aside, JR asked her a direct question, one that made it clear what he thought from her relayed information.
"Don't you?" seeing no other logical answer, other than perhaps her mother had known but was not related to Pamela, she asked him the same thing he'd asked her, keen to hear if he had a third option in mind.
"The most obvious answer is often the correct one", nodding slowly, he confirmed his opinion on the situation.
Relieved to hear from someone else that she wasn't making something out of nothing, she did still have questions, firstly, "but why the secrecy?"
Looking as if he had an answer, he didn't immediately respond, but when he did, she didn't like what he had to say. "You're young, you wouldn't understand."
Glaring at him, she was sharp with her words, "I'm a senior, I'm not stupid, don't treat me like I am." She was perfectly capable of empathising and understanding details of complex situations and she deserved more respect than he was paying her.
"I'm not, it's just, all of this women's liberation stuff is new, the past was much different to now." Looking at her, studying her face, his response made vague sense, but she still had questions.
"What are you saying?" she knew she was younger than him, they had different life experiences, so perhaps he was just being honest when he said what he said, but she didn't know what that honesty really meant.
"I'm saying, a woman who left a husband and children behind wouldn't go around telling people that that's what she'd done and certainly wouldn't be making sure it was recorded on official records somewhere", returning to the details she'd shared, he did explain things a little better. It was likely deliberate that it wasn't easy to find a connection between Rebecca Wentworth and Pamela Barnes; her mother had never mentioned a previous marriage, nor having other children, so she probably didn't want anyone to know.
Surely, whether or not her mother wanted people to know of her past was irrelevant when it came to public records though, because as she told him, "I can't find any evidence of her being married before, which just doesn't make sense because even if she abandoned her family it would have been after a marriage was registered".
There was a possibility her mother simply hadn't been married to Pamela's father, but that didn't feel accurate to her. Her mother was a traditional woman, or she thought she was, and as JR had said, women's liberation hadn't been what it was now back then, she highly doubted that there was any family togetherness happening without a marriage ceremony having taken place.
"Perhaps you're not looking in the right place", nodding, JR thought about it for a moment and then offered a different explanation for the lack of details available.
"I wouldn't know where else to look, Houston and Dallas are the only places I know she lived", having spoken to a librarian who'd assisted her with where to find the information she was seeking, she'd looked, but still found nothing of any value.
Taking in what she was telling him, JR changed the subject following her admission of hitting a dead-end, "set that aside, what other information do you have?"
"Nothing. My mother doesn't give the impression that she's that complicated. She married my father, had me, and our lives have been very good. I've looked in our filing cabinets and everything seems as it should be. The only evidence of anything strange happening before my parents married is my mother's birth certificate, but even that's debatable whether it's anything to look twice at." Shrugging, she felt hopeless. They were operating on a lot of assumptions and very little evidence and that wasn't particularly rewarding.
"In what way?" asking for details, he sounded far more interested in the information than she thought it was worth.
"It's smudged, the Burke could be Burke but it could be something else too, perhaps Barnes, but I don't see it and it doesn't make sense to be Barnes as that would have been her married name, not her maiden name", expecting that it likely said Burke rather than anything else she didn't overemphasise it.
"Do you have a copy?" asking the obvious, she gathered that he wasn't doubting her, he'd just like to make the judgement himself before he was satisfied.
"No, I don't work in an office and I could hardly ask my father to get his secretary to do it at his office."
Appearing to accept her answer, he sought clarification again, "that's everything you have?"
"So far, yes. I've looked at public records and newspaper articles, there isn't that much available about Pamela Barnes or Pamela Ewing. That's why I came to Dallas, I hit the end of the road with what I could find written down and came to hear what wasn't recorded for public consumption. I went to see Cliff, but he's out of the office until further notice, and Bobby's nowhere to be found…" Reminding him he'd promised to assist her, she had a lot of sympathy for what Bobby and Cliff must be going through, but she also thought that if anyone could help her it was Pam's brother or husband, so she still very much wished to speak to them.
"I guess you're going to have to trust me then", listening to her plea, he sounded as if he were offering to assist her.
"I'd prefer if you put me in contact with Bobby", reiterating what she really wanted, she doubted he'd give it to her.
Offering her a small smile, he apologised and explained why he was doing what he was doing, "look, I would, but Bobby might not be in the best state to answer questions about Pam. Maybe in a few weeks or months he'll be more prepared to face his wife's family secrets, but the last time I saw him he was still grieving and coherence wasn't guaranteed. Let me look into it first, then we can see about getting Bobby involved."
Believing he was looking out for his brother, she wasn't entirely satisfied with what he was offering her, specifically because she didn't understand, "why would you help me?"
"Pamela was Bobby's wife, Bobby is my brother, it's the least I can do", again offering her an explanation for his offer, she believed part of what he was saying but she still had her doubts about him.
"I'm nothing to you", defensive, feeling that she had to be because she didn't entirely trust him, she also knew she couldn't exactly turn down his offer to gather more information because it was the only offer she'd received all day and she didn't really want to return to Houston having made no progress.
"Call it curiosity", smirking, he didn't give much away about what he was thinking.
Wishing to ask him for more details of why he was so curious about something that really didn't concern him she resisted when she caught sight of the clock. "Thank you. For a busy man you've given me a lot of your time, I'll leave you to it."
"I'll work late", watching her collect her purse and stand, he was at her side within seconds, grinning down at her.
"I'm flattered", matching his grin, she felt like they'd come to an understanding and allowed him to walk her to the door.
Chuckling, he showed her out, saying goodbye and indicating she should leave her contact information with Diane, his secretary.
Following his instructions, it wasn't long before she was back downstairs, satisfied that she would be leaving Dallas with more than she'd come with.
To be continued…