Dallas, Texas

Accepting the drink Cliff was holding out, Bobby explained why he'd made a visit to his office.

"I'm going to Houston to speak with Rebecca and I was wondering if you'd like to join me."

"Why?"

Asking a question, Cliff's tone didn't indicate surprise as much as it did bafflement.

"Why what? Why am I going or why do I want you to come with me?"

"The former, I don't need you to explain why you'd ask me to meet with my mother, I want to know why you'd want to meet her."

Clarifying what he didn't understand, Cliff's thoughts on the subject were clear. He had no interest in reuniting with Rebecca and failed to see what benefit it would be to anyone else. His meeting with Katherine had apparently been as expected, pleasant enough but not overly beneficial, serving as a reminder mostly of what he'd missed out on and what Rebecca had chosen over him.

"I've been thinking about Pam and how she would have reacted to all of this."

Offering his own thoughts, he didn't want to sound as if he knew Pam better than Cliff did, but there was no denying that Pam and Cliff had their own personalities and had thoughts that clashed at times, so taking Cliff's word for everything didn't quite satisfy his curiosity about the whole situation. He wanted to meet Rebecca for himself and to form his own opinion about her, for Pam and for his own peace of mind.

"And?"

"Well, I don't really know. I don't think I ever heard her mention your mother, so I don't think she thought of her all that much, not even when she was about to become a mother herself. She adored your daddy, but even then, she didn't speak to him for long periods when he upset her. I don't know how she would have reacted to this news, but I know that I've lost my mother recently and if I could have one more conversation with her I'd do anything for that, so I'd like to speak with Rebecca, to see where Pam came from and to close the chapter."

Listening to what he was saying, Cliff shrugged and agreed. "Pam might have been more open-minded than I'm being, or she might have been more indifferent, I don't know. She was much younger than I was when Rebecca left; I doubt she remembered much of having a mother at all."

Not entirely sure whether Cliff was in support of his decision, he clarified that he hadn't changed his mind.

"I'm going to go."

"It's your choice."

"I'll report back."

Nodding, Cliff thanked him and asked a question he'd spent a while thinking about himself.

"Thanks. Does she know you're coming?"

"It's a surprise."

Laughing aloud, Cliff's cynicism was obvious.

"Good luck with that."

Taking in what Cliff was saying, he hoped he didn't need the luck, that Rebecca was a reasonable person, but he couldn't be sure that she was, so he'd take any well wishes coming his way.

Houston, Texas

Opening a drawer under the window seat in her bedroom, Katherine handed over one specific photo Cliff had given her, watching her friend's face as she studied it.

"Your sister was beautiful, and she had good taste."

Admiring the couple in the picture, Alice confirmed her thoughts.

She hadn't told many of her friends about what she'd uncovered, it hadn't felt like her place to make her family's business public information. She'd had to tell someone though, and that someone was Alice, her oldest and most understanding friend. Alice knew her almost as well as she knew herself, even without her needing to detail what she was thinking or feeling.

"Are you going to meet him?"

Asking her a direct question, the answer wasn't a simple yes or no.

"I'd love to, but…"

Hesitating, Alice finished her sentence for her.

"…but your parents aren't keen."

"They never forbade it; we just really don't talk about it."

Still fresh in her father's mind it seemed, their time spent together as a family continued to feel frosty whenever there wasn't something occurring to distract them.

"I can understand why."

Nodding, she thought about it again.

"They didn't object to me meeting Cliff."

Smiling, Alice nodded and stood, speaking as she walked over to the nightstand where the telephone sat. "Maybe you should call Bobby and introduce yourself."

Feeling her cheeks warming, her emotions seemed to affect her mind too, because suddenly she felt completely out of her depth.

"What do I say?"

Laughing, Alice brought a sense of reality back to the situation.

"Are you joking? Katherine, you're articulate, you can make a phone call."

"I know that, I meant, do I tell him who I am, what I want?"

Trying to envision a conversation with Bobby, her heartrate quickened.

"Well, I'm sure he knows who you are now, you said Cliff mentioned they talk." Brought back to reality again, she couldn't disagree with the point Alice was making, which made her next sentence hit just a little bit harder. "Just, maybe don't mention that you think he's handsome."

Smirking, her amused expression turned into giggles in no time.

"Alice", wanting to object, she couldn't, because it was true and she'd already confessed that very feeling to her friend.

Laughing at her own embarrassment, she didn't move, not until Alice walked up to her, took her hand and lead her over to the telephone.

Attempting to calm her breathing, she had to turn away from Alice's interested gaze to make the call. Reaching the operator and directory assistance, she was disappointed to hear that Southfork Ranch had an unlisted number. Asking to be put through to Ewing Oil instead, she finally reached someone she knew, someone she had no problem speaking to.

"Good afternoon Diane, it's Katherine Wentworth."

"Good afternoon Miss Wentworth, how are you today?"

First exchanging pleasantries with JR's secretary, she didn't hesitate to then address why she'd called.

"I have a little favour to ask; I seem to have misplaced the phone number for the ranch, would you be able to give it to me again please."

Making a sound to indicate she was listening, Diane asked the question she'd been hoping not to hear.

"Has JR given you the number before?"

The answer to the question was no, but she wasn't going to say that, so instead she lied, "yes."

"I'm sure you'll understand that I need to confirm that with him before I give you the number again."

Not expecting the answer she'd been given, she did understand the reasoning behind it.

"Yes, of course."

"Just a moment."

Waiting on hold, she hoped JR was in a good mood, because if Diane was under strict orders not to release personal information without his permission and she'd lied about having his permission, then his grace was her only hope.

"Miss Wentworth?"

"I'm here."

"JR says he appreciates your audacious nature."

Laughing, she could picture exactly how the conversation between JR and his secretary had gone, but when Diane began to read the number to her, she no longer felt bad that she'd put her through that.

Thanking and saying goodbye to Diane, she ended the call, hesitating for a moment before dialling the next number, finally reaching the ranch.

"Good afternoon, may I please speak to Bobby?"

"I'm sorry; he's not available at present. May I take a message?"

Not receiving the answer she was looking for, she took a second to think about what to say next, eventually settling on waiting until she could reach him directly to make herself known.

"No, no message. Thank you."

Saying her goodbyes, she made eye contact with Alice again.

"Now you have time to put a script together."

Smirking at her friend's joke, she didn't feel so disappointed anymore. It was just after 3.00pm on a Thursday, it probably wasn't surprising Bobby wasn't home, and more time to get her thoughts in order wasn't a bad thing. She'd be in contact with him at some point in time, she wasn't going to give up.

To be continued…