Dallas, Texas

April 1978

"Excuse me, where's the bathroom?"

It was an innocent enough question; the girl wasn't the first traveller who'd stopped looking for refuge and she probably wouldn't be the last, Southfork was the only house for miles. Pointing her in the direction of the guest bathroom off the foyer however, Sue Ellen couldn't shake the feeling that there was something odd about the entire situation.

Continuing through the house, seeking something, anything to relieve the monotony of her day, she stopped and listened when she heard voices. Eavesdropping wasn't polite but the conversation was too interesting not to pay attention to. It wasn't so much what was being said as much as the tone it was being said in and who by.

"You'd best prepare yourself. This isn't going to be pretty."

"Mama, I think you worry too much. Daddy will love her, you all will, just like I do."

Bobby was home, that was unexpected, although more unexpected than his presence was the inference that he was in love. The last time he'd been in love had ended in heartbreak but this time he sounded confident that it was going to last. Miss Ellie's unease on the other hand left her wondering what was actually going on.

Miss Ellie had been nothing but welcoming to her when she'd been introduced to the Ewing family and she'd shown the same courtesy to a string of pretty but forgettable women in Bobby's past, yet she seemed to lack warmth and had only worry about his newest relationship.

The girl who'd been looking for the bathroom was surely the girl he'd brought home with him, but what made her so controversial was unclear.

"Your daddy has not forgotten the past, as much as I and I'm sure Pamela might want him to."

Pamela. The name was familiar but she still wasn't sure why.

"Pamela wasn't there any more than I was. Daddy can leave his issues with Digger Barnes at the door."

Digger Barnes. Pamela Barnes. Bobby was seeing Digger's daughter. Now she understood her mother-in-law's discomfort.

"Bobby."

"Now mama, I've married Pamela and that's that. I don't want to hear about old feuds, that's ancient history and we're only interested in the future."

Hearing the word 'married' her first reaction was to gasp, her hand clapping over her mouth probably too late, her behaviour only undiscovered because Bobby and Miss Ellie were too involved in their own conversation to be listening for outside noises.

"Ever the optimist."

"Yes mama."

Interested now, the sound of a door opening in the distance unfortunately pulled her away from where she stood, sending her scuttling into the nearest room, the study.

Solid walls lined by built-in bookshelves on multiple sides gave the room a secure feeling and unfortunately soundproofed the space a little too well, blocking her from continuing to eavesdrop.

Alone with her thoughts the news began to sink in.

Bobby had married Pamela Barnes. Pamela Barnes was Digger Barnes' daughter. Digger Barnes and Jock Ewing had been feuding for decades. Pamela Barnes was also Cliff Barnes' sister and presently Cliff Barnes was working with the state to critique Ewing Oil's interests and past behaviours. There were going to be fireworks, Miss Ellie was right about that.

Jock she could handle, he could be cold and cruel but most of the time he left her alone. It was JR that she was worried about, JR himself and JR in relation to her. JR disliked what his daddy disliked and if Jock was unhappy about the union of Bobby and Pamela then JR would be unhappy too.

Where she stood on the subject she didn't know. The girl had initially seemed fine, although she had stirred a strange feeling in her so perhaps that was her intuition telling her that as had just been confirmed, something was about to explode.

She could use a friend, someone to share the experience of being Mrs Ewing with, but Pamela Barnes wasn't the right woman for the job, who she was disqualified her from the get-go.

Her choice was easy. She had to pick JR. However JR felt she would support him. Their lives were hard enough without her causing conflict by making a friend of Pamela Barnes. She could be cordial without being too friendly; her mother had made sure she was capable of that.

On the off chance that Jock and then JR were open to Pamela Barnes joining the family then she could easily reconsider her position, but until that happened the decision had been made and she'd stick to it.

Waiting a bit, hearing nothing, she cautiously opened the door, heading out of the study and upstairs, her heart sinking when she walked past Bobby's bedroom door and heard unmistakable whispered words of support and adoration. Bobby loved his wife, there was no doubt about that, but it was about to cause them all a lot of problems.

Why Jenna had left was anybody's guess and while she'd been upset with her for doing that when it initially happened, how she felt now was a close second. Jock and JR had loved Jenna, as had she and Miss Ellie. Jenna was supposed to be a Ewing and had thrown her chance to become one away, now Bobby had moved on too and it wasn't something to be celebrated.

Carrying on, entering her own bedroom and closing the door behind her, she didn't cry, she couldn't, but she felt like her world was collapsing.

Her marriage was crumbling beneath her and Bobby's news had the potential to ruin what good was left between her and JR. On the rare occasions he came home happy and relaxed, the thought of Pamela Barnes in their house, annoying his daddy, and in turn him, was sure to raise his blood pressure and dampen any interest he might have in her.

Her stomach was in knots at the thought. She usually liked Bobby but right now she couldn't stand him, his selfish decision was about to have more of an effect than he realised and that made him difficult to think warmly of.

The sound of cars coming up the driveway was familiar, Jock and JR were home, and she wasn't the least bit excited.

Walking down the hall, hearing Bobby and Pamela in the distance, her stomach lurched when she saw them. They looked like she and JR had at one time, in love, which made her position all that much more difficult. Bobby wasn't going to give up on this girl easily, not the way he was holding and looking at her, and while that would've been nice if she were anyone else, she wasn't and it wasn't.

Entering the living room behind Miss Ellie, she turned and greeted JR as he came in behind her, accepting the drink he made her but making no move to sit beside him when he made a beeline for a single armchair. JR's face was neutral, he didn't look ready for a fight just yet but he didn't exactly seem pleased that his brother had brought home who he clearly recognised as Cliff Barnes' sister, and who Jock recognised as Digger Barnes' daughter.

"Well Bobby, are you going to introduce us to your new bride?"

Waiting for the family to file into the room and sit down before he spoke, when he did speak Jock's tone indicated he wasn't in the mood for any nonsense.

JR was acting like the perfect host, but it was just that, an act.

Anyone could see through his hospitality, even Pamela she suspected. The girl appeared uncomfortable at the idea of spending any further time with JR than necessary and to be quite honest she couldn't blame her. JR thought as much of Pamela Barnes Ewing as he did land without oil, he had no use for either regardless of their other good qualities.

Her own feelings were more complicated. Pamela was trying hard to be liked and if she were anyone else she might be easy to like, but her very identity made her unlikeable.

She didn't have a thing to do with the feud between Digger or Cliff Barnes and the Ewing men but she had to live every day at Southfork with people who cared more than a little about the past. She had to live with JR's tenseness and coldness, Jock's gruffness, and Bobby's tenderness. Her life was more difficult now than it had been a few days ago through no fault of her own; it wasn't fair and she didn't like it.

JR had plans, he wouldn't say what they were but the very idea of him planning something had her nervous.

Either Miss Ellie had some pull with Jock or Jock knew where the boundaries were, she wasn't sure which it was or whether it was a combination of both, but whatever it was Jock was nowhere near as ready to act on his feelings as JR was, and that was ruining her marriage.

JR didn't care to involve her in his ideas but he cared enough to discourage her from getting too close to their new sister-in-law. It was a hard place to be, she didn't know what or when something was going to happen or how much of it was to do with her own husband.

She wanted to give JR the benefit of the doubt, but from the bits and pieces of conversation she'd caught between Bobby and Pamela as they ascended the staircase and went straight to their room, a trail of wet footprints behind them, she couldn't say she truly believed her husband was innocent.

Pamela was beginning to show strength they hadn't anticipated and there was something she admired about that, unfortunately, she was scared too, and that was what most influenced her behaviour. Polite but cold to her new sister-in-law she wondered what the future held, whether she was always going to feel the faint sickly feeling she did whenever Bobby and Pamela were around, whether JR was ever going to warm up to her again, and whether her time as the favoured Mrs Ewing was coming to an end.

Not too long later, she had an answer, and it wasn't one she liked. Pamela was expecting and Jock, Miss Ellie, and even Digger were happy about it. She and JR had lost and her world really was falling apart now.

The end