Dallas, Texas

"Bobby", turning around at the sound of a familiar voice behind him, Bobby reached out to shake his father's hand, "daddy".

Gripping his hand tightly, his daddy didn't say anything for a few seconds, then casually asked, "you come to visit often?"

Nodding he acknowledged that the Ewing family plot was hardly somewhere either of them imagined they'd be visiting so regularly a few months ago, but here they were, "most days".

"Me too", saying very little, the tone of his answer made his pain obvious.

"It's wrong, we shouldn't have to be here, they should still be with us", sighing, he expressed his ongoing pain.

Listening, his father surprised him when he didn't immediately agree, "I came to realise a long time ago that life isn't fair".

Hearing it said, he knew it was true, but it angered him that it was, "I hate that, mama and Pamela were good, kind ladies, they didn't deserve this".

"We don't always get what we deserve", answering, he was shockingly apathetic about the entire thing.

Full of questions, he responded, "no. But how can you not be angry about that?"

Placing his hand on his shoulder with a strong motion, his daddy elaborated on his feelings, "I am, I'm angry and upset, but I'm also aware of the responsibilities I have that need me to set aside my anger to deal with life. I don't have the luxury of taking unlimited time to grieve or be angry with the world".

"I…" hearing what his daddy was saying, he was speechless, unsure how to respond. Unfortunately, they shared a similar life now but had taken two very different approaches to dealing with the grief that followed, one he thought his daddy had understood and perhaps he had, initially, but not so much anymore.

If he really wanted to, he could ask JR to handle things at the office, and he was sure Sue Ellen would take care of Lucy. Time was a luxury his daddy did have, he just didn't want to take it, or stubbornly wouldn't.

"We've missed you at the ranch", changing the subject, his daddy made him feel guilty for how he'd handled everything.

"You or Lucy?" attempting a joke, he immediately knew his comment had fallen flat.

"You think I don't miss you?" looking a little hurt, he realised his daddy was hard on him but he did care.

"No, I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. I just, I don't know how you do it, how you can live like normal? How you can lie in your own bed at night and not completely fall apart?" phrasing his response as questions, he described his own experience. He didn't feel ready to return to regular life yet and he struggled to understand how his father could just set aside his grief and keep living.

"Who says I don't? Son, you have to learn to live in this new reality, you can't run away from it", offering him some of his wisdom, it still didn't really make sense to him that he could be so collected about the whole thing.

"I know, running away is not what a man does", considering the point, he couldn't really disagree with what he was saying, it wasn't anything different to what he'd heard from Jenna, although she'd been far more conscious of his emotional state when she'd said it.

"Running away isn't a permanent solution, it doesn't solve anything. Come back to Southfork, take it slow, stay in one of the guest rooms if your own room is too much, but you need to start living again", explaining that it wasn't really about being a man but being alive, his daddy's point resonated with him.

"I'll come back because you asked me to", agreeing, he wasn't sure he was really ready to return home but he knew eventually he'd have to and he was being asked to, so he'd make an effort to at least try.

Houston, Texas

Observing her mother twisting the safe dial left and right, Katherine was almost certain that the new combination was 4, 10, 50 and 23, Pamela's birthday and last age, which made her even surer of what she suspected.

She hadn't yet heard back from JR Ewing, but she'd give him some time before reaching out to him again, firstly because she knew from her own experience that research took time, and secondly, because she was busy with her senior year and between schoolwork, extracurricular activities and college visits she didn't have much time to micromanage his investigation.

"I'll never understand why you changed the combination", watching her mother look through the jewellery boxes in the safe, seeing very little of interest other than the boxes, she broached the subject, trying to sound casual, as if she were just making conversation rather than fishing for information.

"Mm", making a sound, her mother acknowledged her curiosity without actually telling her anything.

"Care to explain?" pushing a little harder she asked again.

"No, Katherine, I don't", turning around, her mother's response was curt.

Immensely dissatisfied, she argued, "but…"

"That's enough. What I do or don't do is none of your business", snapping at her, there was no doubt that she'd hit a nerve.

"It's not fair. I feel like you're hiding something from me", getting closer to asking directly about Pamela, she resisted, knowing revealing what she knew too soon might push her further away from the truth rather than bring her closer to it.

Making a deliberate move to close the safe, without retrieving the earrings she'd promised to lend her, the only response she received was an acknowledgement that, "you may feel however you wish".

"What sort of answer is that?" confused, she assumed the comment was a confirmation of her deception, but it wasn't entirely clear.

Apparently unimpressed by her questioning, her mother snapped at her again, "the only one you're getting. Now, unless you want your father to hear about this backchat I suggest you take your insubordinate attitude off to your room".

Disbelieving that her mother would really call her father in to discipline her given the reason for her deception, a reason she doubted her father knew anything about, she challenged her, opening her mouth to whine, "mother".

"Your bedroom, now!" raising her voice, it was clear there was no discussion or confession on the cards for today.

Irritated, firstly by her mother's dismissiveness, secondly by her deliberate dishonesty, and thirdly by the absence of the earrings she'd come to borrow, she turned and left the room, not because she'd been told to, but because she wasn't getting anywhere with the conversation they were having.

To be continued…