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<blockquote data-quote="stevew" data-source="post: 83076" data-attributes="member: 130">Outside by a camp fire John Ross leans back in an Adirondack chair, smoking.&nbsp; Sue Ellen appears out of the dark.&nbsp; &quot;When did you begin smoking?&quot;Without looking away from the flames, John Ross answers, &quot;When they killed my wife.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I know this has been hard on you. I also know you married her because your father arranged for you to marry her, just like he arranged for Bo to marry Amy.&quot; &quot;Yeah well Bo didn&#039;t marry Amy.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I know you want revenge.&quot;&quot;Damn right.&quot; &quot;Please John Ross, this is what happens when you do business like you and your father do.&nbsp; Please just stop.&quot;&quot;Really?&nbsp; Wendell tries to ruin this family and my father puts him away and that justifies his son coming after us, so I&#039;m just suppose to be ok with that?&nbsp; You and Uncle Bobby steal everything from me and I was suppose to be ok with that too?&nbsp; Like you were just suppose to let Elena never pay you back.&nbsp; That&#039;s bullshit.&nbsp; We&#039;re suppose to be on each other&#039;s side.&nbsp; But you never were on mine.&quot;&quot;I&#039;m always on your side.&quot;&quot;Grandma&#039;s will leaves me all of Southfork. Did you know that?&nbsp; Mineral rights and all.&quot;&quot;No I didn&#039;t.&nbsp; I thought she left that to Bobby.&quot;&quot;When she came back after dad tried to . . . She asked for it back.&nbsp; She begged dad to forgive her.&nbsp; Told him her dad had promised it to him as the oldest son.&nbsp; He wouldn&#039;t speak to her.&nbsp; So she left it to me in Uncle Bobby&#039;s care.&nbsp; Half when my father died and half when Bobby dies.&nbsp; He tried to sell it to keep it from me.&nbsp; He just sold his half to Lucy.&nbsp; And you talk about the way I do business.&quot;&nbsp; Sue Ellen goes to speak and he cuts her off. &quot;What about Chris?&nbsp; They tried to kill him.&nbsp; How many years did it take to get his life back?&nbsp; And why?&nbsp; Because they were going after Elena.&nbsp; There&#039;s a piece of work.&nbsp; A lying bitch who I tried to be good enough for.&nbsp; Ironic wasn&#039;t it.&nbsp; Or Pamela.&nbsp; She wouldn&#039;t even go on a date with me but somehow she was in love with me.&nbsp; Enough to care who I slept with.&nbsp; But not enough to stick around.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;You hurt her John Ross.&quot;&quot;You don&#039;t think I know that.&nbsp; Only person I ever really hurt.&quot;&nbsp; Looking her right in the eye, &quot;The rest of you never really care enough for me to get hurt.&quot;&quot;That&#039;s not true.&quot;&quot;Really and when she slept with Nasir Ali?&nbsp; You just told me it was my fault.&nbsp; You didn&#039;t care to hear my side.&nbsp; How it wasn&#039;t a real marriage from the start.&nbsp; How I&#039;d wanted it to be.&nbsp; But she made it what it was.&nbsp; She tried to hurt me.&quot;&quot;And she succeeded.&quot;&quot;Yeah well, a long time ago.&quot;&nbsp; Sue Ellen reaches out to take his hand.&nbsp; He pulls away.&nbsp; Bo sits up on the edge of the bed.&nbsp; Liddy reaches over and caresses his bare back.&nbsp; &quot;Getting up so soon?&quot;&quot;I need to head back to Southfork.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Why?&quot;&quot;John Ross came home, doesn&#039;t look so good.&quot;&quot;Oh.&nbsp; Yeah I guess you better than.&nbsp; Thanks for coming over.&nbsp; I ummm.&quot;&quot;Yeah I know . . .&nbsp; You know he&#039;s gunning for your father.&quot;&quot;Yeah well I can&#039;t blame him.&nbsp; I&#039;d want a reckoning too.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;He won&#039;t stop until he&#039;s destroyed him.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Like I said, I don&#039;t blame him.&quot;&nbsp; Bo stands up pulling on his underwear.&nbsp; Lucas orders a drink at a whole in the wall bar.&nbsp; The bartender says, &quot;How&#039;s John Ross doin&#039;?&quot; &quot;Well as can be expected.&quot;&nbsp; A waitress snuggle up to him.&nbsp; He puts his arm around her.&nbsp; &quot;Tell&#039;em I&#039;ll keep him distracted.&quot;&quot;Darlin&#039; I know you would.&nbsp; But right now he&#039;s got a reckoning on his mind and he&#039;s ain&#039;t got room for nothing else.&quot;&nbsp; She takes her drinks out into the room and the bar tender says, &quot;I hear that son-of-a-bitch killed his wife got torn apart in prison.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yeah well that ain&#039;t who he&#039;s after.&nbsp; I guess. He helped out that dumb bastard&#039;s family.&quot;&quot;Damn.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;No he&#039;s after the person who set him up for the book cooking at CalcoHarwood.&quot;&quot;You mean he really weren&#039;t behind it?&quot;&quot;No.&nbsp; I doubt it.&nbsp; He&#039;d have been prepared with cash like Jeremy Wendell was.&quot;&quot;Makes sense.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;What makes sense?&quot; Bo says sitting down at the bar.&quot;Oh just tellin&#039; Joe here if John Ross had been behind the book cookin&#039; at CalcoHarwood he&#039;d have been prepared with cash on hand.&quot;&quot;So you saying he wasn&#039;t behind it?&quot;&quot;That&#039;s exactly what I&#039;m sayin&#039;.&quot; &quot;Well I&#039;ll be damned.&quot;&nbsp; The waitress practically crawls in Bo&#039;s lap, &quot;Hey sugar.&quot;&quot;Hey Bo.&nbsp; Came in to see me?&quot;&quot;Sure did.&quot;&nbsp; Holding her in his arm right.&nbsp; &quot;I gotta say I missed you.&quot;&nbsp; She starts grinding on him. A guy comes up and pulls his hand off her. &quot;What the hell you think you&#039;re doin&#039;?&quot;&quot;Whoa buddy.&nbsp; Just letting the lady earn her tip.&nbsp; What business of it is yours.&quot;&quot;That&#039;s my sister you little bitch!&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; The man punches him. Lucas jumps to his feet and punches the man back.&nbsp; Soon there&#039;s a full fledged bar fight.&nbsp; Amy and Lucy walk into a police station in the dark hours of the morning.&nbsp; In the kitchen at Southfork Amy and Lucy tend to the cuts and bruises of Lucas and Bo.&nbsp; The sun starts to peak through the window when John Ross walks in, half a sleep, going for his coffee.&nbsp; &quot;What the hell happened to you two?&quot;Bo says, &quot;Just a little fight at the Hole in the Wall.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Yeah your brother here was hitting on some big guy&#039;s sister,&quot; Lucas laughs and then squints in pain.&nbsp; &quot;Yeah where were you bro?&nbsp; I figured you&#039;d be back there nursing a bourbon and branch.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Damn wish I&#039;d been with ya.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;John Ross,&quot; Lucy admonishes.&nbsp; &quot;Well, nothing I like better than a little fight now and then.&nbsp; You boys clean up and get into work. That office ain&#039;t gonna run itself.&quot;&nbsp; John Ross leaves the room. In his study John Ross welcomes Moe and Al.&nbsp; &quot;Morn&#039; all.&nbsp; Let&#039;s get down to business.&nbsp; What you got on Trip?&quot;&nbsp; John Ross drinks from his mug off coffee, sitting in flannel pajama pants with the Longhorns across the chest of his t-shit.&nbsp;&nbsp; Al, in jeans and a hoodie, says, &quot;He&#039;s clean, damn boring, but clean.&quot;&quot;Nobody&#039;s gotten that far in politics and stayed clean. He&#039;s just been careful, that&#039;s all. And don&#039;t forget, he&#039;s a Wendell. There&#039;s bound to be a body in that closet someplace. Find it!&nbsp; Put it there you have to.&quot;&nbsp; Moe stands in the room wearing the finest Italian suit.&nbsp; Adjusting his cufflinks he asks, &quot;Hasn&#039;t Liddy given you anything we can use?&quot; &quot;Says there ain&#039;t anything,&quot; Al answers.&nbsp; &quot;I&#039;m not sure how she&#039;ll feel about us rope in her half brother.&nbsp; Speak of her, where is she?&nbsp; Not like her to be late.&quot; Lucas and Bo step off the elevator and through the doors of Ewing Oil.&nbsp; Lucas tells him to make sure he&#039;s read up on Brian Caffrey.&nbsp; &quot;I don&#039;t want any slip ups when we meet with the OLM.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; In his office he notices files sitting on his desk.&nbsp; He goes over them and places a call.&nbsp; Cleaning the stalls John Ross stops to answer the phone.&nbsp; &quot;Yep.&quot;&quot;Why is CalcoHarwood refining our Walker Oil?&quot; Lucas asks. &quot;Someone&#039;s got to.&nbsp; Until you get a pipeline in place to hook up to Ryland&#039;s Trans-Texas Pipeline, they&#039;re the cheapest to truck to.&nbsp; Spoke to Doug Stemper at Ryland.&nbsp; He&#039;s investing in new trucks to handle our needs for the time being.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Are you gonna let me run this company or not?&nbsp; Every time I turn around you got something undermining what I&#039;m working on.&nbsp; Either you&#039;ve given me the power to run Ewing Oil or you haven&#039;t.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Listen to me, no body gives you power.&nbsp; Real power is something you take.&nbsp; And that&#039;s what I did. I took those oil leases out from under Wendell.&nbsp; He&#039;ll still get the oil but now I&#039;m the middle man.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;I don&#039;t get why you&#039;re putting money in the pocket of that man.&nbsp; After the stunt he pulled.&nbsp; Pick another refinery, just help shore up his bottom line.&quot;&quot;We gotta get the price of CalcoHarwood back up.&nbsp; I ain&#039;t sold any shares, and I don&#039;t intend to.&quot;&quot;And Heather Harwood?&quot; Lucas says looking over the leases.&nbsp; &quot;She&#039;s my sister.&nbsp; Her fortunes suffered in Wendell&#039;s little game too.&nbsp; Some of these oil leases will help her out.&nbsp; Don&#039;t worry. Ewing Oil got more than it&#039;s fair share.&nbsp; And the company&#039;ll manage the drilling for her leases as well as del Sol&#039;s.&nbsp; You&#039;ll see Don Lockwood in there too.&nbsp; You&#039;ve got this.&nbsp; No worries.&quot;Looking over the papers Lucas adds, &quot;And James Beaumont and Moe, Al and Liddy.&nbsp; Come on John Ross.&nbsp; You really believe she&#039;s gonna help you destroy her father?&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;You leave my people to me.&nbsp; You just get that oil out of the ground.&quot;&nbsp; John Ross hangs up.&nbsp; Lucas slams the phone down.&nbsp; &quot;What the hell.&nbsp; Now I&#039;m a god damn errand boy.&quot;Amy meets with the DoA as Lucy walks in the room.&nbsp;&nbsp; Some of the women ask her to join.&nbsp; Lucy declines as it&#039;s never been one of her things.&nbsp; A younger woman asks about John Ross.&nbsp; &quot;He&#039;s doing fine, and no he doesn&#039;t need a date for any social occasion. We&#039;ll be going together for both our shakes.&nbsp; Last thing I need is another potential x-husband.&quot;&quot;Well a man like John Ross isn&#039;t going to stay alone long.&quot; &quot;Are you offering your services or a comforting shoulder because he&#039;s got lots of comforting shoulders.&quot;&quot;A man needs more than a comforting shoulder.&quot; &quot;So services.&nbsp; I&#039;ll let him know. Make sure you come in by the back door.&quot;&quot;That&#039;s really not very funny.&quot;&quot;No but if you knew my cousin you&#039;d know it&#039;s accurate.&quot;Amy walks out the front door with the last of the DoA members. Lucy waves them off and closes the door.&nbsp; &quot;Thank god that&#039;s over.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; She walks into the living room to find John Ross.&nbsp; &quot;Pour me a double . . .&nbsp; How does she stand those hens?&quot;&quot;Same way grandma did I guess.&quot;&nbsp; He hands her a drink.&nbsp; &quot;And this is how my momma managed.&quot;&quot;Fair enough.&quot;&nbsp; She takes a large drink. &quot;You timed it right.&nbsp; There were a bunch of vultures looking for a rich husband among that crowd.&quot;&quot;It wasn&#039;t by accident.&nbsp; Valjean called me soon as they were leavin&#039;.&nbsp;&nbsp; You were known for a rich husband or two.&quot;&quot;Well I didn&#039;t marry them just because they were rich.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Fortunate happenstance.&quot;&nbsp; The two sit down on the sofa.&nbsp; Lucy chuckles.&nbsp; &quot;I guess so . . .&nbsp; You gonna go up and shower? You smell like cow crap.&nbsp; No wonder Marta had this furniture reupholstered constantly.&quot;&nbsp; Lucas walks past the archway.&nbsp; &quot;Lucas!&nbsp; Can you join us?&quot;&nbsp; John Ross calls out. Amy kisses his cheek and says, &quot;I&#039;m going to check on dinner,&quot; leaving him to walk into the living room alone.&nbsp; &quot;What is it?&quot; he asks standing over the two of them.&nbsp; &quot;Please sit down.&nbsp; Lucy and I want to discuss something with you.&quot;&nbsp; Lucas sits in a chair across from the sofa.&nbsp; &quot;We want to acquire the Wade ranch from you.&nbsp; We&#039;ve already bought up several ranches in Braddock and Dallas Counties.&quot;&quot;It&#039;s not for sale.&quot;&quot;Hear me out.&nbsp; Lucy and I are going to turn the land over to the foundation, to protect it.&nbsp;&nbsp; Of course Bobby, Gary and my father&#039;s estate all share equally in Southfork&#039;s mineral rights and interestingly enough Ray sits on more mineral rights around us then anybody.&nbsp; I don&#039;t know how he did it.&nbsp; And you&#039;ve got the mineral rights to the Wade ranch.&nbsp; We&#039;re not looking to change any of that.&nbsp; I want Ewing Industries to acquire the South Fork Cattle Company though!&nbsp;&nbsp; If I&#039;m not mistaken, you&#039;re not interested in it anyway.&quot;&quot;Not really.&quot;&quot;But then this house.&nbsp; I want it to go to Jay.&quot;&quot;Well, work that out with Lucy.&nbsp; The two of you share it now.&nbsp; Whataya need my ranch for?&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lucy says, &quot;It&#039;s not a problem for me.&nbsp; I&#039;m not going to have children at this point anyway.&nbsp; And Bo says he&#039;s not interested in the house.&nbsp; We&#039;ve given him a life time lease on the cottage.&quot;&quot;You asking me if I&#039;m planning on having kids someday?&quot;John Ross says, &quot;This family does have a tendency to fight over stuff.&nbsp; Bobby and Betsy have never even been to Southfork.&nbsp; And I don&#039;t see Christopher returning.&quot;&quot;Christopher&#039;s not a Ewing.&quot;&nbsp; Lucy looks struck, even a bit angry, but she tampers it.&nbsp; &quot;We want you and Amy to stay, and to share the house, with both of us.&nbsp; I&#039;m fine with my room.&nbsp;&nbsp; I&#039;ve got other homes.&nbsp; I don&#039;t need something big here.&nbsp; Just my room will do.&nbsp; But you and Amy.&nbsp; I talked to John Ross about JR&#039;s old room.&nbsp; It&#039;s pretty much an equal master bed room in the other dormer, if we go into the room next to it. That&#039;d still leave us Bobby&#039;s old room for guests.&nbsp; And if you did have kids, there&#039;s room up in the attic with John Ross&#039;s kids. The point is we want to share.&quot;&quot;I see.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;This place is as much yours as it is ours,&quot; John Ross says.&nbsp; &quot;And one day, it&#039;ll belong to our kids.&nbsp; They&#039;re gonna have to figure that out.&quot;&quot;I thought you wanted Jay to have it.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Do.&nbsp; He&#039;s my oldest.&nbsp; But what I want won&#039;t matter.&nbsp; He might not want it.&nbsp; Or Sofi might want it or Steven.&nbsp; Or your kids.&quot;&quot;We&#039;re gonna keep some buildable lots set aside in case any of the kids want to build on the property instead.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lucy stands and kisses Lucas forehead.&nbsp; &quot;We&#039;ll make this work out.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; She leaves the room.&nbsp; Once she&#039;s gone John Ross says, &quot;We really do want you here.&nbsp; And Amy&#039;s really good with the kids.&nbsp;&nbsp; She can do what she wants with the house.&nbsp; Decorating I mean.&nbsp; I know that&#039;s her kinda thing, like Marta.&nbsp; Lucy&#039;s got an apartment in New York City and a beach house in Knots Landing, and god knows what else.&nbsp; She doesn&#039;t need another place to decorate.&nbsp; And you probably got some ideas too.&nbsp; Just don&#039;t change grandma&#039;s place too much.&nbsp; Spend what you want.&nbsp; I&#039;ll cover it.&quot;&quot;I&#039;m sure she&#039;d like that.&quot;&quot;We&#039;re Southworth&#039;s.&nbsp; This is what we do.&nbsp; Live together.&quot;&quot;Where you at with Wendell?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Not as far along as I&#039;d like.&nbsp; There&#039;s a few people, if we can get to them, we&#039;ll lock him up.&quot;&quot;If?&quot; Lucas asks.&nbsp; &quot;When.&nbsp; I hope you don&#039;t object to me sitting in grandpa&#039;s chair at the table.&nbsp; I ain&#039;t giving that up.&nbsp; Nor my study.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="stevew, post: 83076, member: 130"] Outside by a camp fire John Ross leans back in an Adirondack chair, smoking. Sue Ellen appears out of the dark. "When did you begin smoking?" Without looking away from the flames, John Ross answers, "When they killed my wife." "I know this has been hard on you. I also know you married her because your father arranged for you to marry her, just like he arranged for Bo to marry Amy." "Yeah well Bo didn't marry Amy." "I know you want revenge." "Damn right." "Please John Ross, this is what happens when you do business like you and your father do. Please just stop." "Really? Wendell tries to ruin this family and my father puts him away and that justifies his son coming after us, so I'm just suppose to be ok with that? You and Uncle Bobby steal everything from me and I was suppose to be ok with that too? Like you were just suppose to let Elena never pay you back. That's bullshit. We're suppose to be on each other's side. But you never were on mine." "I'm always on your side." "Grandma's will leaves me all of Southfork. Did you know that? Mineral rights and all." "No I didn't. I thought she left that to Bobby." "When she came back after dad tried to . . . She asked for it back. She begged dad to forgive her. Told him her dad had promised it to him as the oldest son. He wouldn't speak to her. So she left it to me in Uncle Bobby's care. Half when my father died and half when Bobby dies. He tried to sell it to keep it from me. He just sold his half to Lucy. And you talk about the way I do business." Sue Ellen goes to speak and he cuts her off. "What about Chris? They tried to kill him. How many years did it take to get his life back? And why? Because they were going after Elena. There's a piece of work. A lying bitch who I tried to be good enough for. Ironic wasn't it. Or Pamela. She wouldn't even go on a date with me but somehow she was in love with me. Enough to care who I slept with. But not enough to stick around." "You hurt her John Ross." "You don't think I know that. Only person I ever really hurt." Looking her right in the eye, "The rest of you never really care enough for me to get hurt." "That's not true." "Really and when she slept with Nasir Ali? You just told me it was my fault. You didn't care to hear my side. How it wasn't a real marriage from the start. How I'd wanted it to be. But she made it what it was. She tried to hurt me." "And she succeeded." "Yeah well, a long time ago." Sue Ellen reaches out to take his hand. He pulls away. Bo sits up on the edge of the bed. Liddy reaches over and caresses his bare back. "Getting up so soon?" "I need to head back to Southfork." "Why?" "John Ross came home, doesn't look so good." "Oh. Yeah I guess you better than. Thanks for coming over. I ummm." "Yeah I know . . . You know he's gunning for your father." "Yeah well I can't blame him. I'd want a reckoning too." "He won't stop until he's destroyed him." "Like I said, I don't blame him." Bo stands up pulling on his underwear. Lucas orders a drink at a whole in the wall bar. The bartender says, "How's John Ross doin'?" "Well as can be expected." A waitress snuggle up to him. He puts his arm around her. "Tell'em I'll keep him distracted." "Darlin' I know you would. But right now he's got a reckoning on his mind and he's ain't got room for nothing else." She takes her drinks out into the room and the bar tender says, "I hear that son-of-a-bitch killed his wife got torn apart in prison." "Yeah well that ain't who he's after. I guess. He helped out that dumb bastard's family." "Damn." "No he's after the person who set him up for the book cooking at CalcoHarwood." "You mean he really weren't behind it?" "No. I doubt it. He'd have been prepared with cash like Jeremy Wendell was." "Makes sense." "What makes sense?" Bo says sitting down at the bar. "Oh just tellin' Joe here if John Ross had been behind the book cookin' at CalcoHarwood he'd have been prepared with cash on hand." "So you saying he wasn't behind it?" "That's exactly what I'm sayin'." "Well I'll be damned." The waitress practically crawls in Bo's lap, "Hey sugar." "Hey Bo. Came in to see me?" "Sure did." Holding her in his arm right. "I gotta say I missed you." She starts grinding on him. A guy comes up and pulls his hand off her. "What the hell you think you're doin'?" "Whoa buddy. Just letting the lady earn her tip. What business of it is yours." "That's my sister you little bitch!" The man punches him. Lucas jumps to his feet and punches the man back. Soon there's a full fledged bar fight. Amy and Lucy walk into a police station in the dark hours of the morning. In the kitchen at Southfork Amy and Lucy tend to the cuts and bruises of Lucas and Bo. The sun starts to peak through the window when John Ross walks in, half a sleep, going for his coffee. "What the hell happened to you two?" Bo says, "Just a little fight at the Hole in the Wall." "Yeah your brother here was hitting on some big guy's sister," Lucas laughs and then squints in pain. "Yeah where were you bro? I figured you'd be back there nursing a bourbon and branch." "Damn wish I'd been with ya." "John Ross," Lucy admonishes. "Well, nothing I like better than a little fight now and then. You boys clean up and get into work. That office ain't gonna run itself." John Ross leaves the room. In his study John Ross welcomes Moe and Al. "Morn' all. Let's get down to business. What you got on Trip?" John Ross drinks from his mug off coffee, sitting in flannel pajama pants with the Longhorns across the chest of his t-shit. Al, in jeans and a hoodie, says, "He's clean, damn boring, but clean." "Nobody's gotten that far in politics and stayed clean. He's just been careful, that's all. And don't forget, he's a Wendell. There's bound to be a body in that closet someplace. Find it! Put it there you have to." Moe stands in the room wearing the finest Italian suit. Adjusting his cufflinks he asks, "Hasn't Liddy given you anything we can use?" "Says there ain't anything," Al answers. "I'm not sure how she'll feel about us rope in her half brother. Speak of her, where is she? Not like her to be late." Lucas and Bo step off the elevator and through the doors of Ewing Oil. Lucas tells him to make sure he's read up on Brian Caffrey. "I don't want any slip ups when we meet with the OLM." In his office he notices files sitting on his desk. He goes over them and places a call. Cleaning the stalls John Ross stops to answer the phone. "Yep." "Why is CalcoHarwood refining our Walker Oil?" Lucas asks. "Someone's got to. Until you get a pipeline in place to hook up to Ryland's Trans-Texas Pipeline, they're the cheapest to truck to. Spoke to Doug Stemper at Ryland. He's investing in new trucks to handle our needs for the time being." "Are you gonna let me run this company or not? Every time I turn around you got something undermining what I'm working on. Either you've given me the power to run Ewing Oil or you haven't." "Listen to me, no body gives you power. Real power is something you take. And that's what I did. I took those oil leases out from under Wendell. He'll still get the oil but now I'm the middle man." "I don't get why you're putting money in the pocket of that man. After the stunt he pulled. Pick another refinery, just help shore up his bottom line." "We gotta get the price of CalcoHarwood back up. I ain't sold any shares, and I don't intend to." "And Heather Harwood?" Lucas says looking over the leases. "She's my sister. Her fortunes suffered in Wendell's little game too. Some of these oil leases will help her out. Don't worry. Ewing Oil got more than it's fair share. And the company'll manage the drilling for her leases as well as del Sol's. You'll see Don Lockwood in there too. You've got this. No worries." Looking over the papers Lucas adds, "And James Beaumont and Moe, Al and Liddy. Come on John Ross. You really believe she's gonna help you destroy her father?" "You leave my people to me. You just get that oil out of the ground." John Ross hangs up. Lucas slams the phone down. "What the hell. Now I'm a god damn errand boy." Amy meets with the DoA as Lucy walks in the room. Some of the women ask her to join. Lucy declines as it's never been one of her things. A younger woman asks about John Ross. "He's doing fine, and no he doesn't need a date for any social occasion. We'll be going together for both our shakes. Last thing I need is another potential x-husband." "Well a man like John Ross isn't going to stay alone long." "Are you offering your services or a comforting shoulder because he's got lots of comforting shoulders." "A man needs more than a comforting shoulder." "So services. I'll let him know. Make sure you come in by the back door." "That's really not very funny." "No but if you knew my cousin you'd know it's accurate." Amy walks out the front door with the last of the DoA members. Lucy waves them off and closes the door. "Thank god that's over." She walks into the living room to find John Ross. "Pour me a double . . . How does she stand those hens?" "Same way grandma did I guess." He hands her a drink. "And this is how my momma managed." "Fair enough." She takes a large drink. "You timed it right. There were a bunch of vultures looking for a rich husband among that crowd." "It wasn't by accident. Valjean called me soon as they were leavin'. You were known for a rich husband or two." "Well I didn't marry them just because they were rich." "Fortunate happenstance." The two sit down on the sofa. Lucy chuckles. "I guess so . . . You gonna go up and shower? You smell like cow crap. No wonder Marta had this furniture reupholstered constantly." Lucas walks past the archway. "Lucas! Can you join us?" John Ross calls out. Amy kisses his cheek and says, "I'm going to check on dinner," leaving him to walk into the living room alone. "What is it?" he asks standing over the two of them. "Please sit down. Lucy and I want to discuss something with you." Lucas sits in a chair across from the sofa. "We want to acquire the Wade ranch from you. We've already bought up several ranches in Braddock and Dallas Counties." "It's not for sale." "Hear me out. Lucy and I are going to turn the land over to the foundation, to protect it. Of course Bobby, Gary and my father's estate all share equally in Southfork's mineral rights and interestingly enough Ray sits on more mineral rights around us then anybody. I don't know how he did it. And you've got the mineral rights to the Wade ranch. We're not looking to change any of that. I want Ewing Industries to acquire the South Fork Cattle Company though! If I'm not mistaken, you're not interested in it anyway." "Not really." "But then this house. I want it to go to Jay." "Well, work that out with Lucy. The two of you share it now. Whataya need my ranch for?" Lucy says, "It's not a problem for me. I'm not going to have children at this point anyway. And Bo says he's not interested in the house. We've given him a life time lease on the cottage." "You asking me if I'm planning on having kids someday?" John Ross says, "This family does have a tendency to fight over stuff. Bobby and Betsy have never even been to Southfork. And I don't see Christopher returning." "Christopher's not a Ewing." Lucy looks struck, even a bit angry, but she tampers it. "We want you and Amy to stay, and to share the house, with both of us. I'm fine with my room. I've got other homes. I don't need something big here. Just my room will do. But you and Amy. I talked to John Ross about JR's old room. It's pretty much an equal master bed room in the other dormer, if we go into the room next to it. That'd still leave us Bobby's old room for guests. And if you did have kids, there's room up in the attic with John Ross's kids. The point is we want to share." "I see." "This place is as much yours as it is ours," John Ross says. "And one day, it'll belong to our kids. They're gonna have to figure that out." "I thought you wanted Jay to have it." "Do. He's my oldest. But what I want won't matter. He might not want it. Or Sofi might want it or Steven. Or your kids." "We're gonna keep some buildable lots set aside in case any of the kids want to build on the property instead." Lucy stands and kisses Lucas forehead. "We'll make this work out." She leaves the room. Once she's gone John Ross says, "We really do want you here. And Amy's really good with the kids. She can do what she wants with the house. Decorating I mean. I know that's her kinda thing, like Marta. Lucy's got an apartment in New York City and a beach house in Knots Landing, and god knows what else. She doesn't need another place to decorate. And you probably got some ideas too. Just don't change grandma's place too much. Spend what you want. I'll cover it." "I'm sure she'd like that." "We're Southworth's. This is what we do. Live together." "Where you at with Wendell?" "Not as far along as I'd like. There's a few people, if we can get to them, we'll lock him up." "If?" Lucas asks. "When. I hope you don't object to me sitting in grandpa's chair at the table. I ain't giving that up. Nor my study." [/QUOTE]

Verification

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