Houston, Texas

Staring at the newspaper, Katherine's mouth felt dry.

Engaged. Bobby Ewing was to be married again. He'd moved on.

She didn't know how she was expected to feel about the news and she was glad she was alone, because she was fairly sure that had someone asked her to speak, she couldn't.

At first, she hadn't felt bad about what she'd done with him. She hadn't planned it, one thing had just led to another. The more she thought about it though, the more uneasy she felt. She didn't know what to call the churning in her stomach, guilt had felt different in her previous experiences with it, as had regret, so it had to be something else. Whatever it was, she didn't like it.

It was good news that he was moving forward with his life, it meant he wasn't hung up on his first marriage, it meant he was ready to love again. She'd never thought she had a chance to build a life with him, he'd specifically told her that he had another lady lined up in Dallas, ready whenever he was. She'd gathered that he needed to do something temporary before jumping into something permanent again and she'd been happy to be the one he did it with. Knowing that and knowing now that he had gone ahead and made plans to make things permanent should have made her feel better, it should have calmed her, let her know that she hadn't broken some rule she didn't know about, other than the obvious, but for whatever reason, she didn't feel calm or free.

Pushing aside her breakfast, unable to stomach anything in her emotional state, she tried to remove her overly personal feelings from the situation, to figure out what exactly was making her so upset, but she was coming up empty. She hadn't expected anything and she was still disappointed. It didn't make sense, but life sometimes didn't make sense.

Downtown, Herbert Wentworth felt just as uneasy as his daughter did. Rebecca had made a mess of their lives, not only socially but legally too, and it was proving to be a complicated, expensive mess for him to clean up.

He loved his wife, but he didn't like her at the moment. They were sharing a bedroom, for Katherine's sake, but he couldn't call them a couple, let alone a happy couple.

His wife had lied to him from the moment they'd met almost two decades ago. She'd been an excellent secretary, an even better date, later wife, and he'd thought they'd shared their vulnerabilities with each other, but he'd been completely wrong. He'd tried not to think about her previous lovers when they'd first met and for the most part he'd been able to, she'd been a good liar, she'd convinced him of her naivety so well that he never would have guessed she'd already carried and nurtured four children. She'd never given him even a slight hint of her past, not the husband she'd never legally divorced, not the children she'd left behind or those she was mourning, not in the early years of their relationship or the decades since, not until Cliff Barnes had made the choice for her.

"It's a forfeiture clause, one I think we should be transparent about with Mr Barnes."

Listening to what his trusted friend and lawyer had to say, he knew what he was getting at by including Cliff in the conversation, making sure nothing was a surprise later on, however before he could even think about doing that he wanted the details to be indisputable.

"It'll prevent him from contesting the will?"

Cliff, as Rebecca's son, would be entitled to a portion of her estate when she passed, as would Katherine; his concern was that the bulk of what belonged to Rebecca was thanks to their marriage, and if he wasn't careful, half of that may end up in the hands of a man named Barnes, not a lady named Wentworth.

"It makes it difficult for him to do so. He's in a far better position to leave it well alone and take what he has been bequeathed than to challenge it and come away with nothing, as per the clause."

Nodding as he listened, he knew he didn't really have much choice. They had to write Cliff into their wills, it was far too risky not to, he just needed it to be done correctly.

"I want it written airtight, he's a lawyer himself, I'm sure he'll be looking for cracks. I won't be here to oversee it, so I'm trusting you to do it right; Katherine's interests must be protected."

He didn't really have anything against Cliff, he'd been just five when Rebecca had left him, he had every right to feel wronged by her and every right to feel confused and conflicted about how to live with the knowledge that his mother was not dead, that she'd abandoned him. He didn't have an issue with Katherine wanting to understand what had gone on in the past either, she'd always been curious. What he did have an issue with was an uncertain future. He hadn't worked hard for his family his entire life only to potentially have Rebecca's son who was unrelated to him come in and claim for himself what he'd intended to go to Katherine.

"I'll get on it."

"Thanks Gerald."

Satisfied that his main concern was being seen to, he was less prepared for the next item on their agenda.

"Shall we discuss the other matter?"

"The validity of my marriage?"

Sighing, he still couldn't quite believe that things had come to the point they were at. Rebecca might have thought she was doing the right thing at the time, but her actions were still coming back to haunt them two decades later.

"It's important."

Waving his hand, he indicated to Gerald to continue. "Go on."

It was ironic, he hadn't seen divorce in their future when the news had first broken, the last thing he wanted was all eyes and ears on him and his family's business; now, it turned out that he mightn't be able to divorce Rebecca even if he wanted to, and remarrying her legally was sure to turn a few heads.

To be continued…