All through the night, Angela McSween had been flashing him subtle, but flirtatious smiles and an occasional wink on the side. For the most part, John Ross had been able to ignore them, but he was gradually beginning to be affected by it.

Sleeping with her had been the ticket to getting back in Melissa's good graces, and in turn, getting back in T.J.'s life. But, it had also begun to be something that wore on John Ross' conscience, as was the case tonight.

Angela broke the silence with a clearing of her throat and John Ross looked up, meeting her eyes again, but he quickly re-shifted his attention back to his plate. Unsatisfied with her previous attempt at getting John Ross' attention, Angela pushed her foot across the floor under the table and nudged John Ross' foot. John Ross quickly recoiled his foot and pulled it under his chair.

“John Ross? Are you okay?” Melissa asked. She had noticed John Ross' white face, plus the fact that he hadn't said a word in the past five minutes.

John Ross smiled and nodded. “I'm fine…”

“Can I get you anything, John Ross?” Angela broke in. Her voice was even more obnoxiously flirtatious and John Ross' stomach heaved.

“Excuse me…” he said while getting up from the table and running to the bathroom. Inside, John Ross pushed the door shut and leaned against it. He sank down to a sitting position and pulled his knees up to his chest as the realization hit him--he was his father's son. He was J.R. Ewing's son.

He pulled himself up when a knock sounded at the thin door. “Who is it?”

“John Ross, it's me,” came Melissa's voice. The door slowly pushed open and Melissa stuck her worried face in the opening. “Are you okay?”

“I'll be fine,” John Ross whispered, but his voice cracked and he looked away from Melissa's stare.

“Are you sure?” She didn't buy the lie at all, but Melissa didn't want to press him for the truth. She walked up behind him and stared ahead at their reflections in the mirror. “You know you can talk about anything with me…”

“I know.” John Ross stared at himself in the mirror, but found that he couldn't make eye contact with his reflection. The overwhelming feeling of guilt was too much for him to bear. “I know…”

“Can I say something that'll make your feel better?” Melissa smiled her trademark sly smile and wrapped her arm around John Ross' waist. Not waiting for an answer, she continued. “Let's get married…”

”What?”

“This week…at Southfork. It'll be huge…and you and I deserve it.”

John Ross' guilt faded instantly and he smiled with excitement. “I like the marriage part, but I don't wanna wait until next week…I want to get married right now.”

“Wha? You don't mean it…now?”

John Ross nodded.

“But I want a big wedding…a huge wedding. I want flowers…and doves…and all of our families there. I want it to be perfect…” John Ross smiled and pulled her close to him. “I want you to be happy…that's all. And if waiting will do that, then I'm all for it.”

As they kissed, guilt was the furthest thing from John Ross' mind.

“Your Grandma will have your hide if she sees you doing that.”

Christopher looked up to see Bobby standing in the doorway, with Gracie wriggling in his arms. Chris smiled at his little sister and walked over to them.

“Come here Gracie.” Grace reached out her arms and gladly went to him.

Bobby smiled. “You look good holding a baby.”

Christopher shook his head. “Oh, no, not anytime soon. Megan and Austin are almost more than we can handle right now.” After holding her for a moment, he sat Grace down on the floor and watched her stand and begin to 'cruise' around the living room, holding on to the furniture. “Speaking of babies, how's mom doing? I still think I should have gone over to the hospital today.”

“No, there's no need for that; the doctor says she's doing fine. In fact, I expect to bring her home tomorrow.” Bobby walked over and sat on the couch, Chris sat in a chair opposite him.

“Dad, why didn't you and Mom ever leave Southfork and get a place of your own?”

The question took Bobby by surprise. “We almost did a few times, why?”

Christopher looked down. He suddenly felt like a little boy again; like he had done something behind his Dad's back and was now feeling very guilty for it. “I was just wondering… I mean… I know you two had a lot of interference from the families, why didn't you just move away?”

Bobby cocked his head slightly to the side and looked closely at his son. He could tell there was more to these questions than Christopher was letting on. “There were lots of reasons. There were times I was willing to leave. But mostly, I wanted to stay. Southfork is my home. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.”

“What if Mom wanted to leave, what would you do?”

Bobby leaned forward and caught Gracie just as she was starting to totter over. She squealed happily as Bobby sat her back down. She quickly stood again and continued her quest to tour the entire living room, one piece of furniture at a time. A look of concern passed over Bobby's face, “Why all of the questions about Southfork? You and Karen aren't having any problems here are you?”

Christopher paused, “No, not exactly… But Karen's been thinking about the possibility of getting a place of our own.” He saw the disappointment on Bobby's face and was quick to add, “But nothing's for certain yet.”

“You said Karen's been thinking about it, what about you?”

Chris leaned back in his chair. “I don't know. I guess I feel a little like you do. I love Southfork, it's my home too and part of me never wants to leave. But I also understand how Karen feels.”

“Can I give you some advice?”

“I've never turned it down yet.”

“Don't make any hasty decisions. You two have been through a lot of changes lately. Give the dust time to settle.” He stood and picked Gracie up off of the floor and took the expensive coaster that she was chewing on out of her mouth. “And don't be so sure that moving away would be best for the kids. You'll never find another Southfork. And it would be nice for the kids to grow up together like you and John Ross did.”

Christopher stood and Gracie reached for him again. As he kissed her good night, he thought about what Bobby had said. He always respected his Dad's advice, but thinking of growing up with John Ross, he suddenly wondered if Austin and Megan wouldn't be better off without their extended family surrounding them daily.

“Hello, Cliff.” It was his attorney, Clyde Parker “How are things coming on the Petrol deal? Are we ready to ship yet?”

“We? I don't know; do you have any oil?” Cliff knew he was being snippy; it wasn't Clyde's fault that he was going to lose his company tomorrow. “I'm sorry, Clyde. No, I don't have it. And barring a miracle, I won't. Is there any way out of this?”

“No, I spent all day going over the contract, I'm afraid it's ironclad. I'm sorry Cliff, I was really hoping you would pull it off.”

“Yeah, well, so did I.”

“I, uh, I hate to be the messenger of bad news… but Petrol's lawyers want to meet with us tomorrow afternoon.

“Sure. Fine, why not. Why don't we just throw a party?! Then everyone can come and see the end of my company. I'll call J.R. Ewing right now, he'll be thrilled.”

“Don't give up yet, Cliff. You've got until tomorrow at midnight.”

“Yeah, bye.”

Cliff hung up the phone and looked out into the night sky. He wondered if he'd ever be seeing that particular night view again.

“You are a bored little guard aren't you Wally?” Kris Johnson walked into the room and shook her head at her longtime friend and co-worker. “How can you watch that trash anyway?”

“It's not trash, it's a classic…” Wally once again drifted off into the movie. “See! What'd I tell ya Jamie Lee?”

A few seconds later, both Kris and Wally froze when they heard a crash coming from one of the nearby cells. Kris turned off the television. “Come on…”

Wally uneasily followed Kris into the hallway and they began to inspect each one of the cells. Wally walked a few feet behind her, the movie still fresh in his mind.

“Oh my God, gimme the key!” Kris shouted back to Wally.

Wally tugged the key ring off his belt as he ran to Kris. When he reached the cell that Kris was staring into he saw the form of a man lying on the cold floor. A small pool of blood formed around his head. “Who is it?”

“It's that Lancaster guy…the one that assaulted the Dallas Dish lady…”

“That's enough of this Miss Farlow business…Miss Ellie will be fine from now on.”

Wade nodded. “Manny said you wanted to see me…is somethin' wrong?”

“Have a seat Wade.” Ellie motioned to one of the other chairs surrounding the patio table where she was sitting.

Wade hesitated before taking a seat. “Yes ma'am.”

“I heard about the cattle rustling that went on a couple of nights ago.” Ellie sipped from her coffee cup and then put it back down.

Wade looked down, away from her piercing stare. “I'm sorry Miss Ellie, I thought it would be best if you didn't know about that right away, with your having just come home from the hospital and all.”

“I appreciate your concern, but there's no need to keep secrets from me anymore. I'm stronger than you may think. I went over to the ranch next door and I had a talk with the owner, Hammond…he sounded very suspicious and now I'm more convinced than ever that they're behind this cattle rustling and the poisoning and all.”

Wade didn't tell her that he had his own suspect—McKay.

“I'll go over there tonight and look around…see what I can find.”

Ellie shook her head. “No Wade, they might catch you…I have another plan.”

“I'm all ears, what's the plan?”

“Well, the Ewing masquerade ball is coming up in a few nights…Tuesday I believe…whenever Halloween is. I'll invite the Hammonds over and when they all arrive, you can sneak over to their ranch and search the place from top to bottom. Inside and out.”

Wade nodded and licked his dry lips in anticipation. “That's a great idea Miss Ellie…just let me know when you want me to go over there.”

“I will, don't worry. And once we prove that Hammond is behind this, I'll make sure he pays for everything he's done to my ranch…”

“Yes sir, Mr. Ewing.”

While he waited on Don, Bobby looked over the numbers again. The more he read, the more concerned he was getting. Nothing added up. He could see where the changes that Pamela had implemented were going to be great for the company down the road, but in the mean time, there was no money to keep it running. He threw his pencil down in disgust. They would be lucky to meet the payroll this week.

Bobby's office door opened and Don Richards walked in. “Hey Bobby, it's good to have you here.” Bobby stood and leaned over his desk to shake Don's hand.

“Thanks Don,” Bobby nodded toward one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat.” Then he sat back down, himself.

As Don sat, he asked, “So how's Pam doing?”

“She's doing fine and thankfully, the babies are fine…. Don, since I'm going to be taking over for her I thought we should discuss this.” Bobby dropped the ledger in front of him.

Don looked at the ledger and knew it was the Tool and Dye's financial report and future profit projections, he didn't bother picking it up, he knew what it said, almost by heart. “Sure Bobby, what do you want to talk about?”

Bobby thought Don seemed strangely calm. “Well, it seems that there is short term problem with money.” Don nodded but didn't reply, Bobby continued, “The problem is the there isn't any.”

Don stared at him with a blank look for a moment, “Bobby, I don't understand. Does this mean you aren't going to follow through on the promises that Pam made?”

“I don't know about any promises. If you're talking about the profit sharing plans and the other changes, they're fine for the future, but we have a critical cash flow problem right now!”

Don felt a little embarrassed, “Um, Bobby, we did have a plan for getting through the short term… I thought Pam would have told you…”

“Okay, let's hear it.”

“Well the plan was that Pam was going to take care of it.”

“What do you mean 'take care of it'?”

“She was going to loan the company the money - personally.” Don saw the look of surprise on Bobby's face and quickly added, “Just until the temporary financial crisis is over. Then the company will repay the loan.”

As he thought about it, his surprise turned to amusement. No wonder she hadn't told him. Bobby chuckled, “And I thought I was getting off easy because she was spending so much time here that she didn't have time to shop!”

Don chuckled too. “I understand, I have the same problem with my wife; she thinks shopping is a fine art.” They both laughed for a moment.

“Okay, I'll arrange to make up for the short term losses. But we need to discuss how we are going to get the Tool and Dye and Wentworth Industries out of this financial mess.”

“Pam already took the first step toward fixing that when she fired Sam Waterson.” Don couldn't help but smile at Sam's demise.

“What? She fired the CEO?” Bobby was starting to feel as though he was getting more than he bargained for in taking over this position.

“Do you two ever talk?”

“Obviously not enough!” Bobby wasn't about to tell him the reasons why they hadn't talked a lot about Wentworth.

“Okay, Bobby, where do we begin?”

“I was hoping you had some ideas. I've run large companies before – that's no problem, but when it comes to a tool and die, well, this is all new material for me. I'm used to oil.”

Don shrugged. “Not a whole lot of difference really, you're just flipping the coin over; taking care of the parts that the oil company needs to get to that oil.”

“What I meant was, if this were an oil company, I'd know what to do… cut back on production for a while, or find new leases or sell off some wells. Those things would raise funds for an oil company almost immediately. But what kinds of things will do that for a tool and die?”

Don nodded, he was glad to see that Bobby's reputation, as a good businessman, wasn't exaggerated. It was only his first day there and he was already anxious to take the problem in hand. “The main thing here is to be the leader in technology. There's a lot of competition out there now. But it doesn't matter how many other companies there are if you're the one producing the newest and best technology in the business. Other than that, I guess your only choice would be to fire people like Sam wanted to do.”

Bobby picked his pencil back up and began to twirl it between his fingers. “Well, that's not acceptable. So looks like our only choice is to become the industry leader in technology again. What we need is one breakthrough that could carry us over the tough spot we're in.”

“It's more urgent than that Bobby. I'd say that if we don't get that breakthrough, and soon, we're finished.”

“You were the last person I expected to see here,” he said in a weak voice.

“Oh come off it Neil!” Lucy's words came out much harsher than she meant for them to. “I'm still your wife and no matter what happened, I still care for you. When they told me you'd collapsed, it scared me half to death.”

“I'm shocked…but glad you're here.”

“Are you hurting or anything?” Lucy asked with a voice filled with concern. “Can I get you anything?”

“Lucy, this'll sound cornier than hell, but you gave me everything I wanted by just walking in the door. I needed to see you.”

Lucy finally let the door shut. She walked over to him and kneeled beside the bed. “And I guess I needed to see you too.”

Neil smiled and there was a comfortable silence between them for several minutes. Finally, Lucy spoke.

“Do the doctors know anything?”

Neil shook his head. “Nope, not a thing. They're doing every test in the world…and then some. I guess it's only a matter of time.”

“Well, do you think it's serious? Or maybe stress? Have you been eating good?” Lucy didn't realize it, but she was beginning to sound like her mother. “I started to call Tiffany, but I didn't want to scare the kid if it was nothing serious.”

“Yeah, me either.” Neil went quiet again, but eventually spoke. “Lucy, do you really believe that I was the one that attacked Afton?”

Lucy broke eye contact with her husband and focused her attention on the cars that drove down the street, several stories down. “C'mon Neil, I don't wanna talk about that right now, 'kay? Not until we find out why you collapsed.”

“So you're avoiding the question because you think I'm guilty, don't you?”

“No, that's not why I'm avoiding the question. If you really want the honest truth, then I'll tell you. I don't know if you attacked Afton. Lord knows you had a motive bigger than the state of Texas, but I…I just don't know what to think.”

Neil smiled and clenched her hand in his. “Thanks for being honest with me…that means a lot. And I know you don't want to think about this now either, but if we ever get back together, I want our relationship to be built on honesty before anything else…”

Lucy silently agreed, but she wasn't ready to think about repairing their broken marriage. Right now, she was just worried about the reason behind Neil's collapsing.

Cliff stopped suddenly and snapped, “Until midnight tonight, it's my rug. I'll do what I want to with it!”

Cliff was very agitated and Clyde didn't blame him it wasn't everyday that a man lost his whole company – especially one the size of the Clifford Group.

Cliff glanced at the clock on his desk. “They're late, maybe they forgot.”

Clyde shook his head, “I doubt that Cliff. These aren't the kind of guys to forget anything. They certainly didn't leave anything out of that contract.”

Cliff shot him an angry look, but before he could respond, Jackie's voice sounded over the intercom. “Cliff, the men from Petrol are here. Do you want me to send them in?”

Cliff wanted to yell 'NO! Tell them to go away!' but he knew he couldn't put it off any longer. “Yeah, send them in.” Then, almost as an after thought, “And send my son in too!”

Cliff nervously stood and prepared to meet the men who would be his downfall. He was glad of one thing, at least it wasn't JR Ewing. But when the door opened and the group of men filed in, Cliff was amazed to see the man who was behind the Petrol deal. “You! What are you doing here!?!”

The man looked at him and smiled, “I'm very disappointed, I would hope that you would be happy to see me, brother”

“You're not my brother! Get the hell out of my office before I have you thrown out… No. Just stay right there, I want to have you thrown out!” Cliff hit the intercom button on his desk, almost knocking the telephone off onto the floor. “Jackie, get security in here, now! There's a large rodent in my office that needs to be driven back into the gutter it crawled out of!!!”

Rex sat in the chair just opposite Clyde. “That's very unwise, Cliff, considering the fact that this is no longer your office… it's mine.” He now had Cliff's full attention. “You see, I'm the sole owner of Petrol Refineries and you have defaulted on your contract with me… It's all very sad, really. You don't have the cash, or the assets to pay the penalties, I'm afraid your only option is going to be to declare bankruptcy and liquidate everything.” He looked around the room, “Including this very distastefully decorated office. Afton must have decorated for you I'd recognize her tacky touch anywhere.”

Cliff was astounded. It couldn't be true. But as upset as he was about Rex owning Petrol, it was the comment about Afton that he reacted to first, “Wait a minute, you can't come in here and insult my wife!”

Rex raised his eyebrows. “Your wife? Now, which wife would that be? The one who escaped you by running away for fourteen years, or the one who managed to elude you by pretending to be dead?”

“You sorry excuse for a…” Cliff lunged at Rex. Clyde jumped up to get out of the way, but instead, he bumped into Cliff, knocking him off course. Rex sat calmly while two of his flacks grabbed Cliff and held him back.

“I'm sorry Cliff, but I can't afford to waste any more of my time talking about your lack of a love life. Let's get to the issue at hand, shall we? You are defaulting on your contract…”

Cliff shook Rex's men off and stood glaring at him. “I haven't defaulted yet, Wentworth! If you'll read over your own contract, you'll see that I have until midnight tonight to come up with the oil.”

Rex laughed sarcastically, “Who are you fooling? No one in this state is willing to do business with you. I've won. Why don't you just admit your defeat and stop torturing yourself.”

“I'm not through with you… I'll…”

“BUZZZ…. Cliff, you have an urgent call on line two. Eric's here, oh, and the security men are here too.”

Cliff walked back around his desk. “Jackie, I'm kind of busy here. Take a message.” He eyed Rex. “And have security wait in the hall.”

Just then, Eric walked in. “Dad, I think you'll want to take that call.”

“Eric! We are right in the middle of negotiations…”

Rex spoke up. “There will be no negotiating.”

Cliff picked up the phone, if for no other reason than to make Rex wait. “Barnes here.”

“Mr. Barnes, this is Jake down in shipping. I need to know where you want this new shipment sent.”

“What? I don't know what you're talking about!”

Eric watched his father with a hint of a smile on his face.

“Well, your son had all of this oil loaded onto the ships, but he said to call you to find out where to send it… I need to know so I can clear the navigation pathways…”

“My son? Hold on, Jake, I'll call you back.” Cliff hung up the phone and let Jake's news sink in. He had the oil he needed sitting in ships ready to be sent to the destination of his choice! Cliff's eyes met Eric's. “Is it true?”

Eric feigned innocence. “Is what true?”

Cliff wanted to kiss him and strangle him all at the same time…

Looking at the smile on Cliff's face, Rex was becoming more and more uncomfortable. “What's this all about?”

Eric spoke up. “Well, you see, Mr. Wentworth, there was one person you didn't count on coming through for The Clifford Group. You are familiar Stonehurst Oil?”

Rex's eyes narrowed. “Stonehurst wouldn't sell to you. I spoke with the acting CEO and he said…”

Cliff suddenly caught on to what had happened, Marilee had come through after all! He was glad she wasn't there. He was so happy; he might have kissed her.

He stood up. “I'm sure the decision of the owner can over ride that of the 'acting CEO'. You see, Rex, I may have made a mistake in not looking into Petrol closely enough, but you made a mistake by underestimating 'motherly love'.” Cliff laughed.

“You still haven't won, Barnes, the oil hasn't been delivered. Even 'motherly love' can't get it to France by midnight.”

Clyde held up the copy of the contract, suddenly glad that he had been over it enough times to have it memorized. “I'm sorry, Mr. Wentworth, but the terms of the agreement define 'delivery' as being able to assign the ownership of the oil to you. Physical delivery can take place after that time. In fact, I have the papers to assign the oil right here, you can sign them now.”

There was fire burning in Rex's eyes he looked over at his own attorney, who slowly nodded his head, validating what Clyde had said. “I'm not signing anything until I have that oil checked out. You could have that ship loaded with empty barrels.”

Clyde smiled, “That's fine, Mr. Wentworth, just be sure you have it checked before midnight tonight, or you will be the one violating the conditions of the contract!”

Rex turned his fiery stare on Cliff. “You haven't won yet, there's still another shipment coming due, and Stonehurst won't even have the oil to bail you out of that one.” He stood and walked to the door. “Enjoy your company while you can, Cliff, when I'm done with it, there won't be a brick left standing!” He and his men left, slamming the door behind them.

“Oh, now that really hurt! He didn't even give me a hug, or call me brother again before he left.” Cliff fell into his chair, laughing hysterically.

She was unable to get very far, because just a few minutes later, the plane's announcement system chimed.

“Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. May I have your attention? This is the captain speaking.”

Many of the passengers in nearby seats sat up. Sue Ellen put down her papers to listen.

“I don't want to alarm anyone, but this flight is going to be forced to make an emergency landing momentarily. There is a large storm up ahead, and we are being diverted to the closest airport. Please expect some minor turbulence as we attempt to land.”

Sue Ellen now sat directly up in her seat and then reached over to wake J.R.

“What?”

“The plane has to make an emergency landing, J.R.”

“Why?” he asked groggily.

“A storm.”

“Oh, great. You mean we're gonna be stranded in the middle of nowhere,” J.R. said, becoming slowly more alert.

“Oh, we're gonna be in the middle of somewhere, darlin'. The middle of Arkansas.”

J.R. had a fleeting thought of Cally and his son as he said, “Oh, isn't that wonderful.”

  “Kaitlin. Earth to Kaitlin… where are you?” 

  Kaitlin blinked and realized that she had been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't heard Susan's question. “I'm sorry, Susan. Some friend I am, I drag you out to lunch and spend half of the time daydreaming.” 

  Susan patted her on the hand, “Don't worry about it, just tell me you're dreaming about someone tall, dark and handsome.” 

  The thought of her Westar stock being tall, dark and handsome made her laugh out loud. “No, I'm sorry to disappoint you… I was actually thinking about business.” 

  “Kaitlin, really! Is that all you think about? I thought you quit Westar so you could have a little bit of peace and quiet, maybe get a life.” 

  “I know, but I keep getting offers to sell.” 

  “Great, that's exactly what you should do! Sell them to some great looking tall, dark man with a lot of money and then run away with him!” 

  “Susan, you're such a romantic. But the way my love life is going lately, I'm going to end up being an old lady with lots and lots of cats!” 

  They both laughed as Kaitlin paid for the meal. Neither was aware that they were being watched very closely from the bar. As they walked past the bar, a man suddenly stepped backward running into Kaitlin. 

  “Oh, how clumsy of me. Here, let me help you. Are you okay?”  

  “No, it's all right. I'm fine, really.”  

  The man had taken hold of her arm to keep her from falling and there was an awkward moment when their eyes locked and he was still gently holding her by the arm.  

  “Kaitlin, are you okay?” It was Susan. Her words broke the spell and he quickly released her arm. When Kaitlin realized she had been staring into the stranger's eyes, her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink.  

  Kaitlin stood there for a moment, she felt she needed to say something, but she wasn't sure what. “Um, thank you for catching me.” She immediately hated herself for sounding so corny. Thank you for catching me! What was she thinking! 

  The man smiled, “Certainly. I'm always happy to help a lady in distress, only I usually try not to be the source of the distress.”

  Susan moved forward and stretched out her hand, “Hi, I'm Susan Kendrick.” 

  He took her hand “Hello Susan.” Then he looked at Kaitlin, “And you are?” 

  “Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Kaitlin, Kaitlin Ryan.” 

  “Well, Ms Ryan, it was a pleasure running into you. Literally.” 

  As Kaitlin reached out to shake his hand, she glanced at her watch. “Susan, we have to be going if I plan on getting a costume to wear to the Ewing Ball.” 

  “Okay.” Kaitlin turned to go, but Susan turned back to the man. “It was nice meeting you, Mr.?” 

  “Rex Wentworth.” 

  “Good bye,” Susan smiled and hurried to catch up to Kaitlin. “See, now there's the kind of man you need, Kaitlin. Tall, dark, handsome and he likes rescuing damsels in distress! You can't get better than that.” 

  As they got into the elevator, Kaitlin laughed, “Yeah, and he's probably dirt poor and has a mother at home who tells him what to do. No thanks, I'll stick to the cats.”

Bobby walked out onto the balcony behind her. He put his arms around her and chuckled, “I won't be able to do that much longer!” Pam elbowed him in the ribs. “Hey! Watch it.”

Bobby thought for a moment about what she had said about being glad to be back at Southfork. Since his talk with Christopher the night before, he had thought a lot about what their lives might have been like had they moved out of Southfork years ago. “Did you really mean what you said about Southfork really being home to you now?”

“Of course I did. I've lived here longer than anywhere else. I may not have always liked it in the past, but now I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.” She turned in his arms to face him. “We've built a life here. Gracie is growing up here and soon, so will her little sisters.”

“Brothers.”

“You never give up, do you?” They both smiled. Pam paused and then, “And with Chris and Karen and Austin and Megan here, it's wonderful. It's the great big family we always dreamed of having.”

Bobby's face clouded over when she mentioned Christopher. He wasn't sure how she would react when she found out he and Karen were thinking of moving out of Southfork, but he knew it wouldn't be good. He decided to change the subject.

“I have a surprise for you.”

“Where?” Pamela started playfully checking his pockets, but all she found was a blindfold in his shirt pocket. Bobby took it from her.

“You'll get it, but you have to wear this.” He turned her around and gently tied it over her eyes, waving his hand in front of her to be sure she couldn't see.

“Bobby, is this really necessary?”

“No, you can take it off. 'Course, you won't get your present.”

Pam sighed, “All right… where is it?”

Bobby took her hand and put his other arm around her back to steer her. They walked out into the hallway.

All of the sudden, Austin rounded the corner. “Cool! Blind Man's Bluff! Can I play?”

“Sorry Austin, we're not playing a game, we're going to look at something.”

As they walked away, Austin shook his head. Grown ups were so weird! How were they going to look at anything with a blindfold on?

Bobby opened the door and carefully led Pamela into the room. He placed her where she would have the best view. “Are you ready?”

“I'm ready.”

“Are you sure?”

“Bobby! I'm getting dizzy!”

He chuckled, “Okay, okay, here.”

Bobby pulled the blindfold away and Pam opened her eyes to find a beautiful new nursery – completely finished. Wide-eyed, she walked around the room touching the lovely new furniture. “Bobby, I can't believe you did this.”

“Well, I had help. Do you like it? I wasn't sure you would. I know you wanted to do the nursery yourself when Gracie was born, but I thought this time, with the complications and all, it might be too much.”

Pam was still staring in amazement at the detailed touches he had added to the room. There were even two little silver spoons sitting on the dresser waiting to be engraved with names and date of birth. She stepped back over to the two identical cribs. They even had the comforters already in them and lying in each one was a little teddy bear that said “My first teddy bear” on it.

Bobby was getting concerned at her continued silence. “Well? Do you like it?”

She walked back to him and smiled lovingly. “It's wonderful Bobby. I wouldn't change a thing.”

Bobby took her in his arms and smiled down at her. “I'm glad you like it.”

“I like it, but I love you.”

They kissed and at the door a small voice said “Ahem”

Startled, they broke their embrace and turned toward the door to see Austin staring at them with and impatient look on his face. “Are you done with that blindfold yet?” They both burst into laughter as Bobby tossed him the blindfold.

“Give 'em a break, J.R.,” Sue Ellen called from the bathroom, “there's a major storm out there..”

“Well, but still, we're Ewings. You'd think we'd carry enough weight to get separate rooms.”

“The Ewing name doesn't have the same amount of clout when you're outside of the Texas border,” Sue Ellen countered, “you of all people should know that…especially here in Arkansas.”

“Well, it should.”

Sue Ellen walked into the main part of the suite, and sat on the chair near the mirror.

“We can't complain too much, J.R. They did get us a suite.”

“Well, as long as this place doesn't have vermin like Haleyville did.”

Sue Ellen bristled at the mention of Cally's hometown. While she liked Cally, memories of the time J.R. was married to her still upset Sue Ellen. It was during that time that Sue Ellen tried to get on with her life. But after she had married Don and things went sour, Sue Ellen had nowhere to turn. J.R. had moved on with his life, but Don had argued, maybe correctly, that she had never completely moved on with her life. After all, he did tell her later that while her movie project was captivating, she had to realize that it was just a revenge tactic against J.R.

“Must we talk about your past in this state, J.R.?”

“Well, what else do you suggest we talk about, Sue Ellen? The World Series?”

“I've never taken you for a baseball fan, J.R.”

“Well, football's the only real sport,” J.R. said, “but baseball is at least tolerable.”

“It's just that you know how I feel about Cally and everything you put her and Justin through,” Sue Ellen said, returning to her original subject.

“I've got a past in just about every state of the union. After all these years, I've visited the entire state of Texas and most of the country. What I've done is bound to follow me around.”

“And you're never one to keep quiet about anything, now are you?”

“What are you getting at now,” J.R. asked, slowly getting angry.

“You were always so eager to throw everything in my face, weren't you?”

“I gotta confess, darlin' you've lost me here, I'm not sure what you're talking about,” J.R. said, continuing to be confused.

“It doesn't matter what it is, J.R., does it? Whether it was my relationships with people like Don or Nick or my successes or failures in the oil business, or my drinking you always had to play for the upper hand, didn't you? You could never let me feel like I had won.”

“What brought out this side of you, Sue Ellen?”

“I just get so angry at you sometimes.”

“I usually have a line of people stretching out to the curb that are mad at me. You always lead the pack,” J.R. argued.

“I didn't want it to be that way, J.R., but you never left me any choice. Being here in Arkansas made me realize that. When you went and married Cally, did you even consider how I would feel, even for a second?”

“Of course I did.”

“Somehow, I doubt that,” Sue Ellen fumed.

“Look, Sue Ellen. You and I were divorced. I didn't think I had to explain myself…or my personal life to you.”

“You didn't have to explain it, but you could have considered my feelings.”

“I know that Cally's a painful subject for you, so why did you bring it up?”

“Well, it's about time, don't you think,” she said. “How many times did you tell people that you were still in love with me even after you were with Cally? How many times?”

“You know, Sue Ellen,” J.R. said, “if you want to act like a raving lunatic, that's fine, but that doesn't mean I have to listen to it. I'll go beg for another room.”

J.R. turned to head for the door, and got it open just a sliver. Sue Ellen ran over and slammed the door, almost slamming J.R.'s finger in it.

“Watch it...”

“You know, J.R. It's about time you listen to me instead of blowing me off.”

J.R. decided to try a different tact. “I'll listen, if you just calm down.”

“I've never wanted to admit it, J.R. But when you were with Cally, I thought I had lost you forever. A part of me. And then when you “died,” John Ross and I both felt that way.”

“I never meant for that business deal to hurt my family that badly,” J.R. confessed.

“And then you came back to life. And you and I talked at Southfork about where our lives were. I thought I was able to trust you again. And then you went and started being with Anita.”

“I didn't know my laundry list was packed in your briefcase,” J.R. commented.

“I'm just trying to make a point here,” Sue Ellen said.

“Well, please do it soon, I'm exhausted.”

“I'm getting there. Two years ago, when you almost died in that fire on the Oil Baron, I felt like I had lost you again. When you talked the other night about how you've grown up, I agree with that, J.R. You have changed. But there are things about you that remain the same.”

“People aren't ever perfect Sue Ellen.”

“I know. It's just that I like the new you, J.R. The one who tries to be considerate and won't order alcohol in front of me. I don't want to lose that. I don't want to lose you again.”

“I'm not goin' anywhere...” “How can I be so sure? You've left me too many times before.”

“I can promise you, Sue Ellen…I'm not going anywhere.”

Sue Ellen now stood, looking exhausted. J.R. put his hands on her shoulders, causing her to look up into his eyes.

“You've been a great mother to John Ross, no matter what I've said before. You've changed too, Sue Ellen, and you've become one hell of a woman. I never meant to hurt you; you should know that. I guess I've just been a stupid man, doing stupid things. Maybe you'll be able to forgive me sometime. I'd like that at least.”

“It wouldn't be that hard, J.R. They say it's easy to forgive the ones you love.”

Sue Ellen stared deeply into J.R.'s eyes for a moment, and saw an expression of honesty in them. As J.R. looked in her eyes, he could see that same vulnerability she had had for all those years, combined with the new strength she had found within herself.

He couldn't resist. J.R. leaned down and kissed Sue Ellen.

Sue Ellen's thoughts were a mix of confusion as she reacted to the kiss. For a moment, she thought of pulling away, but then she relented, being completely caught up in the moment. She let J.R. Ewing kiss her, and she didn't think again of pulling away.

The little girl squealed in delight as she let go of her rocking horse and tried to walk the few feet to her Mommy. Pamela held out her arms and leaned forward to catch her as Gracie tottered over just two steps before making it to her mommy.

“Clap, Clap” They both looked up to see Bobby standing in the doorway. “Excellent attempt, Miss Ewing!” He came in, knelt next to them, and gave Pam a quick kiss before kissing Grace on the forehead. “You know, I bet she wouldn't fall if you put a shopping bag as her target destination!”

“Very funny. But I am glad you stopped in to see us before you left for work.”

“Um, let me guess, you missed me already and couldn't wait until tonight to see me, right?” Bobby teased.

Pam smiled, “Almost. I'm stuck and I can't get up!”

Bobby gave her a mock scowl. “The truth comes out.” Bobby stood and reached out his hand. Pam gladly accepted it and let him pull her to her feet. Gracie crawled over to a shelf full of toys and began pulling them off one by one.

“Speaking of the truth, why didn't you tell me that you were planning to use our personal account to make up for the short term losses at Wentworth?”

Pam was momentarily surprised, but of course Don would have talked with him about the money. “Is there a problem?”

“No, I just wish I'd know when I sat down to talk with Don. Made me feel kind of silly to find out that he knew more than I did about your plans with our own bank account.”

“I would have told you, Bobby. Things were just so tense between us when it came to Wentworth, I didn't think you'd understand.”

“So you were just going to withdraw the money and not tell me?”

Pam was suddenly indignant. “Are you accusing me of plotting to steal the money?”

Bobby put his hand on her shoulder. “I'm not saying that, I was just wondering when you were going to tell me.”

“I would have told you before I did anything, Bobby.”

“Good morning and welcome home.” Karen walked through the open doorway, followed by Megan. She walked over and hugged Pam. “You gave us all a scare. Are you feeling okay?”

Megan was already over at the toys with Grace helping her systematically remove them from the shelf. With Megan's aid, they were really flying off the shelf now.

“I'm feeling fine. And it's great to be home.”

“Hey! 'dats mine!!”

“AHHHHH!!”

Megan and Gracie were both pulling on the same stuffed bear. Pam looked at Karen. “Do you have any idea who had it first?”

Karen smiled half-heartedly, “No clue.”

“AHHHHHHHHH!!” Megan finally won the tug of war and Gracie was now sitting in the floor screaming.

“Megan, that wasn't nice. Give that back to Gracie.”

“NO! Megan's bear!!”

Pam quickly found another bear to pacify Grace and gave it to her, stopping her cries almost immediately. “That's okay Karen, who knows who started it and Gracie's easy to distract.”

Karen sighed, being a full time mom was turning out to be a lot more difficult than she thought, especially with two children. Karen knelt and took Megan in her arms. “Well, at least say thank you, Megan.”

Megan held the bear tightly and smiled sweetly at Pam, “Tank you.”

“I'd better be going, I'm meeting Chris and Austin…” Karen stopped short of telling her about meeting them at the house they were considering buying because Bobby was standing behind Pam motioning 'no!'

“Are you meeting them for breakfast?”

Karen was thoroughly confused. “Um, No… yeah… anyway, we've got to go. See you later. Bye”

Karen left the room hurriedly.

“I'd better be going myself.”

“Bobby, just a minute. I was thinking, what do you think of asking Afton and Cliff to come to the Halloween Ball?”

Bobby frowned, “I thought you and Cliff weren't talking, and I know he and Afton aren't on good terms.”

“That's putting it mildly. But they are Megan's grandparents. I think Cliff and I could put aside out differences for one night.”

Bobby grinned, “That's a lot to put aside. But it's fine with me. Better ask Momma, though.”

Pam nodded. “I will. Now you'd better get to work, you're going to be late.”

“Sure thing, boss.” Bobby kissed her good-bye and left.

Pam turned around and found Gracie sitting in a sea of stuffed animals and other toys. “Oh Gracie!”

The little girl looked at her and grinned a grin that looked a lot like one of Bobby's and said, “uh, oooh…” For a moment, Pam thought about leaving the mess for Nelda, but then she sighed and started picking up the toys…

But his suspicions were confirmed when the woman veered off to the right and took a seat on a bench that faced the street. Cliff happily strode up to her. “Well, Valene Ewing, what in the world brings you back to Dallas?”

Val looked at Cliff, not recognizing him at first, but soon she placed the face. “Cliff Barnes?”

“Yeah, in the flesh.”

Without asking if it was okay, Cliff took a seat next to Val on the bench. Val wasn't exactly smitten with Cliff. After all, her daughter had been involved with him for a while. And though Val wasn't sure about the circumstances surrounding their break-up, she was sure it wasn't totally Lucy's fault.

“So, ya never answered my question…”

“Do I owe you an explanation Mr. Barnes? I don't think I do.”

“No, but you could offer me one. I'd love to know what's going on in the life of J.R. Ewing's favorite sister-in-law.”

“Then maybe you should ask J.R.,” Val said abruptly. She stood up and began to walk away, but Cliff grabbed her purse and she sat back down.

“Ok, let's start over from the beginning,” Cliff offered. “How're Gary and the kids?”

Val looked at her watch impatiently. “Gary's fine. The kids are fine.”

“So Gary didn't come with you?”

“No.”

“I dunno why he'd ever let a woman like yourself get away from him even for a day.”

“Somehow I doubt he's even noticed I'm gone,” Val muttered.

“Oh? Marriage on the rocks? I can relate to that.”

Val's eyes widened and she clenched her teeth and turned to Cliff. “Why don't you butt out of my business Mr. Barnes.”

“You can call me Cliff.”

Val shook her head. “No thank you, I'd rather not be on a first name basis with you.”

“Suit yourself…sooo, write any bestsellers lately? I don't think I ever told ya, but I'm a huge fan of your books.”

Val turned to him again, amused. “You mean you read?”

“Of course I do, when I have time.”

“For the record, I haven't written anything in a while…can't find any inspiration lately.” Val stood up again. “Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get going.”

Cliff called out to her as she started to walk away. “Hey! I have an idea for you…an idea for a book!” Cliff began to trace letters in the air as Val turned around. “Cliff Barnes: The Untold Story. Instant bestseller.”

Val waved him off. “I'll see you around…but hopefully not anytime soon.”

Bobby signed the paper he was studying and looked up. “Okay, I think that should do it. He passed a personal check across the desk to Don. It was made out to Wentworth Tool and Die.

Don looked at the amount. “Whoa! I'd say that'll do it… can I have a raise? Looks like we can afford it now.”

Bobby smiled, “I think that takes care of everything on our agenda, except choosing a new Chief Executive Officer.”

Don quickly set some files in front of Bobby. “If you don't mind, I took the liberty of screening the applicants, since I know them personally. I think just about every upper management level executive is applying for the job.”

Bobby thumbed through them. “So you think we should hire someone from inside the company.”

“Well, that is the way it's usually done. And we do have some good men here. Take Reed Everest, for example. He's been with the company a long time. He's firm, but good to work with. And then there's…”

“I really appreciate all of the trouble you've gone to in sorting through these applicants, but I've already made up my mind.”

Don nearly choked on the coffee he was drinking. “Already? You do move fast.”

“It wasn't a hard choice. The man most qualified for this job is you.”

“Bobby, you must be joking. I never planned on this, I mean, I'm only interested in what's best for the Tool and Die.”

“I know; that's part of what makes you the best man for the job. Now if you'll just accept the position. I can get on to my next challenge, finding myself a good vice president for the Tool and Die.”

“Bobby, I don't know what to say.”

“Say 'yes'.”

Don smile, “Yes.” He stood to leave. “If you don't mind, I'm going to go call my wife.”

“Sure, go ahead. The rest of this stuff can wait.”

As Don was heading to the door, he turned, “Oh, and Bobby, don't worry about finding a good vice president. I'll put together a list of good applicants for you. It's the least I can do… Wow, I'm moving to Houston!”

Bobby smiled and leaned back in his chair. It was good to be back at work. He hadn't realized how much he missed the wheeling and dealing and the constant competition from other companies. It made him remember that no matter how hard he tried to bury it, there was still a part of him that was his father's son and that part planned to make Wentworth Industries a company to be reckoned with.

“Hey, Chuck, I know it's rough, but I had no choice. I couldn't deliver your oil. I had an emergency and had to divert it…” The man on the other end we furious that Cliff was going back on the deal. “Yeah, well, fine then, sue me!” Cliff slammed down the phone.

BUZZ. It was Jackie. “I don't want to be bothered.”

“But you have a call on line three. It's from the research department.”

“I'm busy. I don't want to talk to anyone right now, Jackie, take a message.”

“Sure, Cliff.” A few seconds later, she buzzed him again.

He answered quickly. “Yeah?”

Jackie chuckled lightly, “It's still the research department. I think you need to take the call.”

“Okay, put him through.” Cliff picked up the phone. “Yeah?”

“Cliff, it's Rick down in Research and Development. I think I have some good news for you! You know that new drill we were working on?”

“No.” Now that his immediate crisis was over, Cliff had the next installment deadline to worry about – he wasn't thinking about drills.

“Anyway, we've done it! This new drill should bring in off-shore wells in half the time it takes now.”

Rick suddenly had Cliff's attention. “What? Offshore wells… “ Something like that just might be the answer to his meeting the next installment on the Petrol deal. “Tell me about it.”

“Well, it's actually very complex, but the general idea is…”

“No, no. I don't want to know how to build the thing. I need to know how it's gonna help me get to the oil!”

“You know how uncertain off shore wells can be. This is actually a whole system for getting into the ground and bringing up the oil and it can do it in half the time.”

Cliff beamed; he was so excited he almost shouted, “Well let's get that puppy in the field!”

“We still have to have it tested and approved and there may be a few problems…”

“I don't care what you have to do! Get that thing out on those off shore wells.” He hung up the phone without even waiting for Rick's reply.

Cliff was in the mood to celebrate. He buzzed Jackie. “Is my son in?”

“No, he's at lunch.”

Cliff was disappointed; he wanted to tell someone about his triumph. He picked up the phone and dialed Southfork. “Pam Ewing, please.”

Theresa sent Isabel to get Pam and in a moment, she was on the phone. “Hello?”

“Pam! Hi, how are ya?”

“Cliff? You surprised me. I thought that after our last phone call…”

“I know, I know. Look, I'm sorry about that. I was desperate – but not anymore. Your big brother took care of that problem all on his own and you won't believe what I have in the works now. I've discovered a new technology that is going to cut off shore drilling time in half!”

“You came up with it?”

“Well, my research company, same thing, isn't it?”

Pam laughed, “Okay Cliff. Congratulations. I'm really happy for you. And I'm proud of you for taking care of your oil problem all on your own. Actually, I'm glad you called. I wanted to ask you to come to the Ewing's masquerade ball.”

“Huh? Oh, when is it?”

“Halloween. I know it's short notice, but… I just thought that since you and Afton are Megan's grandparents that you might like to be here.”

“Afton's coming?”

“I hope so. I've asked her to.”

“Sure, why not. I'd love to tell JR all about my new drill! Ewing Oil's never come up with anything like that! Ha!”

Pam sighed, “Good. Then I'll see you on the thirty-first. Bye Cliff.”

“Bye”

Cliff started to buzz Jackie and decided to walk out to see her instead. “Hey Jackie, did you hear what research said?”

“No.”

“Great, let's go to lunch, I'll tell you all about it.”

“Are you buying?”

“Of course I am, come on.”

Jackie pulled her purse out of the drawer it was in and stood up. “Let me guess, Chinese?” she said with a hint of dread in her voice. His problems were finally over!

Wade killed the engine and let the old truck roll to a halt against the curb and then he swung his legs around and stepped out onto the cracked asphalt of the street. He sighed and clutched a stub of paper in his hand, looking at the house. Wade then trotted up the walk until he was standing in front of the door.

Inside the house, a woman in her late 50s dried off her wet hands on her apron. Her hair was naturally blonde and showed not even the slightest hint of gray and her face looked no older than the face of a forty year old, but it did show signs of a hard life, as did her hands.

“Coming…” she said, more to herself than to the person at the door. Helen Sawyer opened the door and her face lit up like Texas sunshine when she saw her son. “Oh Wade…”

Wade smiled and pulled her into a hug. “Momma, sorry that I ain't stopped by lately, but work's been heck.”

Helen stepped back and closed the door after Wade was inside. He handed her the slip of paper that was in his hand and she unfolded it. “Wade, I can't keep taking your paychecks…it's not right…you need them.”

“Yeah you can. It's been nearly a month since I brought the last one. I've got enough money to last me for a little while, now I want you to take this one…you and Amelia. She'll need to go back to the doctor again soon, won't she?”

Helen nodded, feeling guilty when she put the paycheck in her apron pocket. “Sometimes I don't know how this family will manage from day to day…but we somehow always do. Thank you Wade.”

“Don't mention it Momma…you know I owe you a heckuva lot more than that.”

“And I think I owe you a home-cooked dinner…I'm having your favorite, cowboy stew.” Helen gestured to a lone pot sitting on the stove in the kitchen. “I'm sure Amelia would be thrilled for all of us to have dinner together again.”

Wade's heart sank. “Momma, I'd love to stay, but I've gotta get back to work…I just came over on a long lunch break.”

“I'll save you some stew…maybe you can come by after work.”

Wade nodded and kissed his mother. “That'd be great.”

Helen followed her son to the door and he turned around before leaving. “Momma, be careful. I know you really love this little ol' house, but it's not in the best of neighborhoods anymore.”

“I've got your father's gun…and I know how to use it.”

A gunshot suddenly ripped through the quiet neighborhood, followed by a scream and the sound of dogs barking. Wade instinctively pushed his mother back into the house and shut the door behind them. “Good God Momma…I know I've asked you before, but I'm gonna ask you again. You know I just moved into my own little house on Southfork…the one the old foreman, Ray Krebbs, used to live in. It's not big, but it's nice enough for three people. I want you and Amelia to come live there with me…you'll be safe.”

Helen's demeanor abruptly changed. “No Wade. I'd rather live anywhere as there…and you know it.”

Wade sighed. They'd both been through this argument before, but she'd never offered a reason why she didn't want to live with him in the foreman's house. “Why?”

“The Ewings…they are poison. Southfork is poison. I'm not the one that's in danger Wade—you are. Now you know I don't like the idea of you working out there, for the Ewings, but when push comes to shove, you do what you have to do. I don't like taking money from them either, but at least you earned it honestly, even if they didn't.”

Wade wasn't sure what to make of what he was hearing. “The Ewings are fine people, 'specially Miss Ellie. She's taken care of me almost like a second mother would.”

“Don't you ever say that again!” Helen gasped. “Ellie Ewing is no mother to you, nor will she ever be.”

“I'm sorry.” Wade didn't know what else to say. “Look, I'm gonna get goin'. Just promise me you'll be careful. Lock the doors at night and keep the gun in your bedroom.”

Helen nodded and managed a smile. “I will Wade. I will.” She watched her son get into the truck and then she shut the door and leaned against it, sighing.