Clayton's younger sister Jessica, however, was another story. She was trouble from the beginning, and as Clayton and many others would find out, very unbalanced. One night in her late teenage years, Jessica went out and had sex with a local boy, and it resulted in her getting pregnant. To avoid scandal, Amy (who learned that she could not have children), suggested having Jessica live in England throughout the pregnancy. Jessica and Clayton agreed, and Jessica went to finish out her term in London. However, she quickly went into a severe depression, and after giving birth to little Steven (nicknamed Dusty) she became almost catatonic. Clayton was forced to institutionalize her and bring Dusty back to Texas with him. When Jessica's condition did not seem to get better, Amy and Clayton adopted baby Dusty, and decided to raise him on their own.

It was a few happy years before tragedy struck again. Amy grew sick, and Jessica seemingly got better, so she was released into Clayton's care. Seemingly happy with the situation with Dusty, Jessica still grew very attached to the child. Then, everything fell apart. While on a business trip, Clayton learned that Southern Cross burnt down, with Jessica managing to save Dusty, but Amy perishing in the fire. Clayton was devastated, and thought he was to be alone for the rest of his life.

Things changed in 1981, when Dusty brought home Sue Ellen Ewing, then separated from her husband J.R., to live at Southern Cross. Dusty and Sue Ellen were in love, and Clayton enjoyed having Sue Ellen and her young son John Ross on the ranch. It made him feel alive. Dusty and Sue Ellen eventually parted ways, but Clayton let Sue Ellen stay with him anyway at Southern Cross. For something started to happen that he never expected---he was falling in love with Sue Ellen.

J.R., in an effort to get his son back into Braddock County, where he had legal custody, tried to get Sue Ellen off Clayton's ranch by ruining Clayton financially. Using a huge bank loan, J.R. bought up all the oil supply that Clayton's refineries needed to operate, and thus remain in business. With J.R. sitting on a huge chunk of oil, Clayton's business began to dry up, and he almost reached a point where he had to fire all his workers. J.R. issued a threat—kick Sue Ellen off the ranch or you go out of business. Still, Clayton was loyal and loved Sue Ellen. He wouldn't do it. Everything did work out though, as Miss Ellie Ewing got hold of what J.R. had done, and sold all the oil back to Clayton herself. It was there that their friendship began.

However, Sue Ellen soon moved out after gaining custody of John Ross. She and Clayton continued to visit all the time, as Clayton grew deeper in love with her. Sue Ellen remained oblivious. Clayton eventually worked up the courage to ask her to marry him, but just as he was going to pop the question, Sue Ellen blurted out that she was marrying J.R. again. Clayton was crushed.

Things turned out for the best though. Clayton quickly fell out of love with Sue Ellen upon seeing her with J.R.---it showed him a side of Sue Ellen that he really didn't like. It was another Ewing that caught his eye—Ellie.

After their initial business dealing involving the surplus oil that Ellie sold back to him, the two developed a fast friendship. When Ellie sought legal advice on breaking Jock's will, she came to Clayton. Clayton and Ellie both ran into each other while taking a vacation in Galveston. They spent the whole time together, and had a blast. Both were attracted to one another immensely. They began to see each other, more and more seriously. Clayton decided he needed to leave the past in the past, and sold Southern Cross, moving to Dallas. Their romance was going full speed ahead, when Ellie began to have health problems that required a extended trip to Galveston. There, the doctor informed Clayton that stress with her family was causing Ellie to have extremely poor health, so any stressor could have ill meaning for her. So, for the next few months, Clayton kept vigil over Ellie, keeping any bad news regarding the family from here. It was in Galveston that the two became engaged. When they returned home after Ellie made a recovery, they announced their engagement, much to J.R.'s chagrin.

Jessica blew back into town once she heard about Ellie and Clayton's engagement, having been living in England for many years. Jessica remained very close with Dusty throughout the years, although the truth that he was really her son was never revealed. Jessica came to stay at Southfork for the weeks before the wedding, and began to exhibit unusual behavior. J.R. caught onto this, but Jessica simply told him that she didn't want Clayton marrying Miss Ellie, just as much as he didn't. They agreed to work together to try to break them up, but J.R. soon discovered a diary entry of Jessica's that not only revealed that she had intentions of killing Miss Ellie---but a lot more. Concurrently, Jessica did kidnap Miss Ellie, but the police managed to get her back safely. Jessica was committed to a mental institution once again. J.R. showed the diary pages to Clayton, which revealed that Jessica was the one who set fire to Southern Cross all those years ago, out of jealousy for Amy! She was jealous of Ellie too, and that was why she was trying to kill her, for fear that Ellie would take Jessica's place in Dusty's heart. The truth about Dusty's parentage became public, but it didn't matter---Ellie and Clayton were married.

After an extended honeymoon, Ellie and Clayton returned home to Southfork, where he would be living. It was very difficult living in the home that Jock Ewing built, and that caused a lot of strains in Ellie and Clayton's marriage, for Clayton felt as if he was constantly living in Jock's shadow. Eventually, Ellie managed to assuage him and convince him that Jock had nothing to do with their relationship.

Soon after, a mysterious man named Wes Parmalee arrived at Southfork, and claimed to be Jock. At first, everyone doubted him, but the details that he knew about everyone, and his likeness to Jock scared Ellie. Clayton wanted Wes out of their lives and off the ranch, but Miss Ellie was more hesitant. She found herself growing attracted to Wes, and even kissed him. Clayton was furious. Eventually, Wes was revealed as a fraud, and Clayton and Ellie reconciled.

Clayton decided to get out of the refinery business and sold all his holdings for a very reasonable price. Soon after, his health started to cause him problems, but he would not listen to his doctors or Ellie's warnings that he needed to take better care of himself. After suffering a heart attack, Clayton made a recovery but realized that he needed to change his lifestyle.

Retired, and with a more laid back lifestyle, Clayton found himself very bored, especially with Ellie spending all her time at charity events. One day, while in Dallas, Clayton saw a painting of a woman of captivating beauty. Fascinated, Clayton got the name of the artist, David Shulton and learned that the subject of the work was his friend, Laurel Ellis. Bored and feeling young again, Clayton met Laurel and the two became fast friends. She made him feel young again. Sure, she was attractive, but Clayton was committed to the ever busy Ellie.

However, trouble did not end there. David Shulton, realizing how rich Clayton was, blackmailed him, threatening to tell Ellie that Clayton was having an affair with Laurel. When Clayton wouldn't cave into his demands, David told Ellie, who put that information with Clayton's erratic behavior and kicked Clayton out. Soon after, David was murdered, and Clayton was arrested as the prime suspect. Ellie stood by Clayton during the ordeal, and he convinced her that he did not cheat on her. Ellie believed him, and Clayton was allowed to move back into Southfork. He was cleared of the crime when J.R. of all people found evidence that fingered the murderer as Laurel's ex-boyfriend Brett. What Clayton soon found out was that J.R. has forced Laurel to sleep with him in exchange for freeing Clayton. Laurel soon left town, while Clayton was made co-owner of Southfork by Ellie!

With Ray leaving behind his ranch, Clayton was placed in charge of selling it, and sold it to Carter McKay. This turned out to be a large mistake, as Carter was working for Jeremy Wendell, in an effort to start a conflict with the Ewings (a "range war") in order to force them to vacate Section 40 of Southfork, which was oil rich. Both Clayton and Ellie were vehement in not giving into Carter's pressure, and eventually were triumphant as Jeremy was exposed and jailed. Shortly after, Clayton took a bad spill from a horse and developed amnesia. Thankfully, it was only temporary.

Clayton and Ellie then found themselves embarking on a mystery when a key arrived at Southfork, addressed to Jock Ewing. After following a very convoluted trail, Clayton and Ellie tracked the key down to a family that Jock had helped save during the war. Soon after, another mystery developed when Clayton's old friend Atticus Ward was dead. Later, one by one, all those who stood to inherit Atticus's estate got bumped off. When it was revealed that Atticus owned 25% of Weststar stock, everyone developed a theory, but Miss Ellie and Clayton decided to get to the bottom of it, as they were worried for Clayton's safety, since he was also one of the will's beneficiaries. It was eventually revealed that Clayton's sister, Jessica, was behind the killings. She had cooked up a scheme with Atticus (who was not really dead when his will was first read, but was later killed by Jessica) that involved her killing all those he hated (strangely enough, those in his will) in exchange for Atticus putting Dusty is his will as the sole person that inherited the 25% of Weststar Stock! For it was soon revealed that Atticus was Dusty's father!

Jessica was caught, but Atticus ended up throwing Jessica a loop in his will by signing over the voting rights to the 25% to her. Clayton was glad the whole mess was over with, and he and Ellie left for an extended vacation in Europe. During that time, Clayton gained control of the 25% of Weststar stock from Jessica, who was declared unfit to hold it by the court. He eventually sold it to Carter McKay, with the intention of Carter leaving Ewing Oil alone in exchange for that valuable piece of stock. Eventually, Carter sold it back to Clayton, who signed it over to J.R., with Miss Ellie's permission. He also, with Miss Ellie, sold complete ownership of Southfork over to Bobby.

The following took place on Return to Southfork

By that time, he and Ellie were on an extended trip around the world. They both loved Europe so much, that they decided to settle there for a while. Soon, Miss Ellie fell into a deep depression, just as Clayton befriended a young woman who was, unbeknownst to them, Lucy's old friend Muriel. Miss Ellie, bed-ridden, depressed and unable to perform physically for Clayton, suggested the two sleep together, in a strange effort to make Clayton happy. Although he didn't want to, Clayton did so, believing this would make Ellie happy. Soon after, Ellie's health improved, and after a while they returned to Southfork for frequent visits.

It was during one of those visits that Lucy, having just been told by Muriel that she had slept with Clayton, confronted Clayton over what he had done. Miss Ellie explained to Lucy that situation in Europe. What Lucy did not tell her grandmother or Clayton was that Muriel had AIDS, and therefore they could both have it. Clayton eventually found out the risk when Muriel herself told him, before dying. Clayton and Ellie debated about being tested, but soon after received a misdirected letter from Muriel that revealed that she contracted AIDS after she slept with Clayton. Clayton and Ellie decided to move back to Southfork permanently. Today, Clayton Farlow lives out his golden years with Ellie, his beloved wife. Together, they have faced almost unbeatable odds. But their love has triumphed over it all.