EPISODE 23
" Discoveries"
SouthFork Ranch Guest Room
Patricia sat at the vanity table applying a little too much make up and teasing her hair, she chattered away to herself.
“Will she ever learn? JR Ewing! What spell that old dog has got over her I will never know. It will end in tears. I mean look what he did to you.”
Patricia looked into the mirror and, in her reflection, could see her dead daughter Kristen stood behind her.
“You were always the most clever of my two daughters but that scoundrel even swallowed you into his wicked ways.”
Kristen nodded back at Patricia as she applied more lipstick and powder to her face.
CREDITS ROLL
The voice of Kristen Shepherd
"We cheerfully assume that in some mystic way love conquers all, that good outweighs evil in the just balances of the universe and at the 11th hour something gloriously triumphant will prevent the worst before it happens."
SouthFork Ranch
JR sat on the end of his bed and looked at Sue Ellen who was still sleeping. This day was going to be as hard for her as for him and he was reluctant to wake her. It was a year to day that John Ross had been killed.
Sue Ellen seemingly almost reading his mind opened her eyes and looked over to JR, their eyes met and without words the pain they both felt past between them.
“Let's spend the day together.” Sue Ellen whispered.
JR nodded and sat on the bed next to her and looked out the window towards the morning sky as a silent tear fell down his face.
“We should go into town and book our honeymoon and do something positive, something that would have made him happy” Sue Ellen continued.
JR nodded but his face wore a darker troubled mask. The wedding, what was he thinking proposing to Sue Ellen? How was he going to get out of this mess without ruining the relationship they had forged? How could he tell Sue Ellen he was already married? As Sue Ellen got up and went into the shower JR began to think about how had gotten into this position.
It was during his time in Europe; he was at his lowest point. He was almost broke, and there was no way JR Ewing was going to be destitute. He devised a plan. He'd had his eye on this rich widow for a while. He'd had some business dealings with her husband, and they had had dinner several times after he'd passed away. Of course, JR had offered her his aid and comfort and she had trusted him completely. One thing had led to another and, in order to get her to put him in control of her husband's company, he had enticed Victoria Hanson to marry him. It had been a stormy relationship, as had all his relationships. After their wedding JR had concentrated on looking after their business affairs and had left his wife at home, neglected .
After another lonely evening Victoria drank too much champagne and had slipped and cracked her skull. After JR discovered her and she was rushed to hospital , it was found that she had bleeding on the brain and had slipped into a coma. JR took care of her affairs for a couple of years, long enough for him to siphon enough business and properties into one of his old subsidiaries, which he'd used to buy up WestStar stock in order to get his foot back in the door. When he'd achieved his goal, and felt confident he could regain his status in Dallas, he'd contacted Anita, and told her to start the annulment process. She'd had him sign the papers, for a hefty personal fee of course, and assured him that she'd taken care of everything. “I should've known not to trust that woman,” he cursed himself.
Lucy's roomLucy sat in bed with a hangover from the previous night . Dean had stayed in town again and Lucy had drunk herself to sleep to avoid the loneliness she had felt. This was becoming a pattern that she recognised only to well. Suddenly Lucy felt a familiar cramp in her stomach and she stood up to go to the bathroom knowing that once again she hadn't been able to conceive.
"If people could regard the events of their own lives with more open minds, they would frequently discover that they did not really desire the things they failed to obtain."
A short while later Lucy came out of the bathroom and sat got back into bed. How had things gone so wrong so quickly ? I f only she could get pregnant , Lucy was sure this was bring she and Dean closer again. Yet , she knew the possibility of this happening now was getting slimmer. Lucy's mind suddenly drifted to her past time in Paris. Another man, the same pattern , and another desperate attempt at making a doomed relationship work. Lucy remembered the night in which Xavier had walked out on her and the pain she had felt as she held her already swollen stomach and sobbed. The vision of a stark hospital room and the emptiness she had felt after suddenly overwhelmed Lucy, she was sure that the mistakes of her past had finally come back to haunt her. She was convinced the abortion had left her sterile and now unable to give Dean the child he seemed to want so badly . And it was destroying her marriage.
SouthFork Kitchen
"Father Time is not always a hard parent, and, though he tarries for none of his children, often lays his hand lightly upon those who have used him well; making them old men and women inexorably enough, but leaving their hearts and spirits young and in full vigour. With such people the grey head is but the impression of the old fellow's hand in giving them his blessing, and every wrinkle but a notch in the quiet calendar of a well-spent life."
Ellie sat at the dining table eating breakfast alongside Patricia.
“I am worried for them Ellie, it always end in disaster when they are together.”
“I think they are old enough to know what they are doing”
“Well you would think so, but then here you are , sitting here worried about your family, instead of been out there having some fun in your life.”
“Patricia I have had all the fun I have ever desired , I am quite content being here with my family.”
“Blah to that! You are never to old," Patricia then said , gesturing with her hand.
Thomas walked in and began to sit down.
“Young man can you get me more coffee” Patricia said with a wave of her hand.
Thomas hesitated and looked over at Ellie, she nodded for him to sit down.
“Patricia, Thomas is a guest here. Don't you remember? You have been introduced several times.”
“Well whatever he is it doesn't stop him getting an old lady a dam coffee refill does it” Patricia snapped back.
Before the situation worsened Theresa walked into the room with a fresh pot of coffee.
Patricia tapped the side of her cup and Theresa refilled her cup .
“Tell me, Thomas, how is school going?”
“Okay. I'd still prefer to just work on the ranch though. All the worries of high school and that crap, what's the point.”
"Tom when I look back on all my worries and concerns, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened."
Thomas shook his head in defeat and gave Ellie a half smile.
“You are one canny old dame you know that.”
"There are three classes into which women past seventy are divided into, Thomas. Number one, a dear old soul. Number two, an interfering old woman and, number three, an old witch," Patricia shouted across the table and then laughed to herself.
Ellie raised her eyes at Thomas and then spoke
“Some folks, as they grow older grow wiser, but others simply grow more stubborn."
Thomas smiled as Becky walked in and walked over to the breakfast table and picked up a slice of toast.
“Miss Ellie are you still okay to look after Johnny today?”
“I am, I am looking forward to it.”
“Great, now he has got a little bit of colic so he will need some of his medicine at around noon . If it gets any worse in the day , give me a call on my cell and I will come home . I n fact , if you don't mind giving me a call anyway, it will certainly ease my mind."
“Dear girl learning to dislike children at an early age saves a lot of worry, expense and disappointment later in life."
Becky looked at her child's great grandmother with disdain and ignored her.
“So I've got to go, you'll call me later, right?”
“I will, I promise. Have a good day and send my best wishes to your farther.”
Becky nodded and left the room. Thomas stood up and began to leave also.
"I better go and get my stuff together as I am doing a shift on the ranch before my afternoon classes.” He said , turning his eyes in Ellie's direction. As he walked by Patricia she grabbed him by the arm.
“Can you prepare me a martini please” Thomas sighed and shook his head as Ellie shouted “Patricia!”
Corpus Christi, Texas
Janice Lipowitz sorted through the items that the police had given her after completing their investigation of her husband's death, finally ruling it a suicide. She flipped aimlessly through them hoping to find something, anything that would explain what had happened; why her husband would do such a thing. She opened his wallet, and flipped through the contents, finding a note folded neatly and tucked behind the pictures of their son and daughter. She pulled it out and unfolded it, shocked as she read:
“Hi, Janey,
If you're reading this, then something has happened to me. I'm sorry. I was trying to make a better life for us, and things got out of hand. I'm not sure exactly how everything happened, but long story short, I got mixed up with some very unscrupulous people. I didn't know they were going to kill anyone, I swear. If you're reading this then I need you to do something for me. I need you to make things right for me. I need you to take the key that's hidden in the flower box in the kitchen window, and use it. It fits a safety deposit box at the bank. There is enough money for you and the children to get away and start a new life somewhere where you'll be safe. Also, there's an envelope addressed to a Mr. JR Ewing. Please mail it to him. And, honey, once you do that, GET THE HELL OUT OF TOWN. You and the children may be in GRAVE danger.
I'M SO, SO SORRY. Please forgive me. I love you.
Chad.
