Dallas, Texas

Turning off the main road down the driveway leading to the stables, Bobby watched Jenna out of the corner of his eye as she leaned back to let Charlie know they'd arrived.

"She's asleep." Reporting back, her news came as he pulled in to park outside the stables.

Letting the engine run, not knowing what parenting decision she was about to make, he turned to her and asked, "what now?"

Leaving the pumpkin patch after several hayrides, walks around the corn maze and trips to the petting zoo Charlie had been enthusiastic about returning to see all of her favourite horses at Southfork but it appeared that all the excitement of the morning had worn her out.

"Well, I can wake her up and she'll be groggy and probably cranky, or we can go home. She's had a long day and she will survive not seeing Snowy, Storm and Ace."

Considering her suggestion, he respected that she was Charlie's mother, but he did wonder whether it was worth disappointing her, or him.

"What if we let her sleep?"

"You want to sit in the car for the next hour?"

Hearing her concerns, he was honest with her. "Inside, outside, I don't mind."

Happiness was difficult to come by recently; he'd had a good time earlier and he didn't want it to end.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to keep you from something more exciting." Seemingly conscious of the importance of his time, she asked him to confirm that he meant what he said.

Switching off the engine, he shrugged and reassured her. "You're not. I had nothing else going on today."

Honest, he didn't realise how his words sounded to her until he saw her expression change and heard her mumble, "thanks a lot, that makes me feel really special."

"Jenna…" embarrassed, he attempted to apologise.

"I knew what you meant", holding her hand up, she let him know she understood.

Pleased to hear she wasn't offended, he carried on, "good, because I had fun today, and I hope you did too."

"I did, not as much as Charlie, but it was nice", smiling, her confirmation made him feel good.

"We should do it again sometime."

"Go to the pumpkin patch?" sounding as if she didn't know what he was suggesting, he knew better than to believe her. She was trying to make him propose something more concrete, he knew it from the sly grin on her face.

"Anything", playing along, he got close but didn't quite give her what she wanted.

"I'd like that", delighted by his offer, she paused as another thought occurred to her, and then within seconds her face darkened and she continued, "I have to ask though, are you ready?"

Thoroughly confused by her question and he change in demeanour, he asked her directly "what do you mean?"

Taking a deep breath, she opened the passenger door and got out, indicating he should follow her lead.

Walking a couple of yards away from the car, she waited for him to join her before continuing with what she had to say.

"I mean, Charlie adores you, I do too if we're laying it out there. However, the more you're around, the more you're expected to be around. I just want you to be prepared for that."

Hearing her serious tone, he suddenly understood why she'd wanted to continue their conversation outside, it was out of earshot if Charlie did wake up.

"Are you expecting me to leave? Because that was you that left, not me", defensive, he didn't want to upset her, but she had to acknowledge that their relationship hadn't ended because of anything he'd done.

Glaring at him, she showed her maternal side as she answered, "thank you for the reminder, but that's not what I was getting at. I was talking about forming an attachment. If you want to be here for Charlie then you need to understand that that can get serious and complicated quickly. She still asks about Richard sometimes, and every time Jack is around there are questions, I don't want her to get hurt."

Feeling like she'd put him in his place, he felt too that she was misjudging him.

"I would never hurt her."

"Not intentionally."

Shaking her head, her facial expression told him that she knew what she was talking about, which made sense as she was Charlie's mother, she knew her temperament and what she could cope with far better than anyone else.

"No." Accepting that he couldn't guarantee anything, he thought too that they could both be correct; he didn't intend to upset Charlie but that didn't mean she would never be upset.

Looking away, she was quiet for a period and then returned her gaze to him. "We're a package deal you know."

Surprised she'd even need to remind him of the details, he didn't hesitate to confirm, "I know."

"Good", briefly brushing her hand against his arm, there was something about their interaction that suddenly felt flirty rather than serious or companionable.

"Jenna, just to be clear, I'm your friend", pre-empting a discussion, he reminded her of what they'd settled on when he'd sought her out at home a few weeks earlier.

Nodding, she looked like she was taking the news well, if not almost a little surprised that he was even bringing up the subject of a potential romantic relationship between them, however, when she spoke, it became clear that she still had hopes that something would develop.

"I know, and I'm not pushing you, I promise, but I think you should know that I don't only think of you as just my friend. JR is just a friend, you're a friend too, but we have a history and one day we're going to have to confront that."

Not knowing exactly how he felt about her, or anything, anymore, he didn't want to say anything that would upset her, so instead left it vague. "I can't commit to anything."

"I understand that you have a lot to work through and I'll give you time and space to do that. What I don't want is for your changing emotions to negatively impact Charlie and I don't want to be hurt myself. I'm allowing us to make a place in your life knowing that things can be complicated and I want to be open with you that. All I ask is that you do the same."

Listening to her, it struck him that she'd matured in the years they'd been apart. When he'd been married to Pam she'd shown him that she still had a catty and dramatic side, but since Pam had passed on she seemed to have mellowed and be relaxed enough to not need to rely on acting out to get his attention.

She was a mother and a woman, she was concerned about what might happen to her and Charlie in the future, but was willing to take a chance on him, the issue was he didn't know whether he was on the same page as her.

"Complicated… if there was ever a word to use", chuckling, he was speechless. She made a lot of sense, but he had no good answer for her at present.

Not giving her exactly what she was after, their conversation lulled.

Seeing her shiver, he asked the obvious question, grateful for a change of subject. "Are you cold?"

"A little", nodding, she acknowledged she was feeling the fall temperature now that they were outside again.

"Wait here with Charlie, I'll go and make us some coffee." Wanting to make her comfortable, he also wanted to make himself comfortable, and creating a little space between them even for just a few minutes seemed like a way to do that. She was honest with him, very honest, and he didn't know exactly how to process that.

"Your special coffee?" touching his chest softly, she alluded to something he hadn't thought about for years, but definitely remembered.

"I don't think the kitchen in the stables is that well stocked."

Smirking, she retorted, "I suppose you wouldn't want the ranch hands having as much fun as we did."

"Precisely", matching her smirk, he stood with her in silence for a moment, taking in just how affected he was by her touch and the memories she'd brought to the forefront of his mind.

Conflicted and confused, he made a point to extricate himself from the situation, stepping back and breaking their contact.

"Coffee", motioning with his hand, he turned and walked away from her, heading into the stables, in desperate need of a moment to himself to digest it all.

To be continued…