Chapter 8

Ryan had now been back in LA for several weeks making the episodes for his television series. He started to notice that the writers were somewhat struggling to come up with interesting scripts. If he was seeing that, so were the viewers. That was reflected in the show’s ratings which resulted in the show dropping further down in the ratings. Ryan thought besides the scripts, the network changing the show’s time slot to where it was up against NCIS contributed to the drop. He thought when they did that change it was the kiss of death for the show.

It turned out that is what happened as into the filming of the last episode it was announced that the show was not being renewed. It was a question of economics because the cost of producing this show had expanded and the show was not generating enough ad revenue to justify the cost of production. There was some talk initially of a cable network picking up the show but when they saw the cost of producing the show they passed on doing it.

At about the same time Ryan had been talking to his agent who said the movie studio had no plans to do any more movies of Abby being a detective in the Florid Keys. The second film they made was not as successful as the first movie and lost money. There were no acting jobs available for Ryan at present but the agent said he would keep his eyes open and let Ryan know if something became available.

Ryan was at the country club the day before he was to leave for Texas and ran into Sharon Anders. He had lunch with her and congratulated her on her recent wedding. She thanked him and mentioned a few things that were going on with her television soap show. She said the current emphasis on controlling expenses was also going on with this TV soap. Several cutbacks that had been made, one of which was to reduce the number of producers for the show. One of the producers released was Trish who from what Sharon has heard is still out of a job. Ryan thanked Sharon for the information and wished her good health and luck.

Being back in Texas, two main thoughts were running through his mind. One was, about what to do with his excess investment funds, and the other was about what to do regarding employment. He had sufficient investment income coming in which meant he didn’t need to work if he didn’t want to but he was not the type to sit on his butt watching TV while feeding his face.

After giving it more thought, he considered investing these excess funds by purchasing land. The saying that God wasn’t making any more land was true and the value of land should appreciate. He phoned Jenny at the management office since they were also a realtor. He asked her about any listings that they had for land that was for sale. She said she would check the listings and get back to him.

Later in the day Jenny called back and said there were a few listings, one of which was a listing for five hundred and fifty acres of land that had a lodge, barn, and a small home that had been used as guest quarters. The buildings she said required some repairs. Originally this was a combination ranch and farm but the present owner had changed it to solely being a hunting camp that had now closed down. There was a three-acre pond on this land and it is located a little over a one-hour drive southwest of Austin. Beth said the asking price was in line with non-farm land and probably will sell for less. After doing some quick thinking Ryan said he would like to see this land and made an appointment with Jenny to drive out there tomorrow.

It was a nice time doing this drive to see this property listing. The cause of that enjoyment was the company of Jenny who was an attractive young lady with a nice personality. Her mentioning that she was recently married put the kibosh on Ryan having any interest other than having a professional relationship with her.

In viewing the property Ryan thought it was an honest listing. The main lodge did need some repairs but they were minor. Some items were remaining that would help in maintaining the property. While there were buildings, it was the amount of land that held Ryan’s interest. He wasn’t sure what he would do with this property if he purchased it. Maybe he would use it as a getaway place. He had always lived in the city and living in the country would be a different experience for him.

All considered he thought he couldn’t get burned on purchasing this property as an investment. He discussed it with Jenny and together they came up with a price he offered to purchase this property.

Two days later Jenny phoned Ryan and said his offer had been accepted. He needed to make arrangements for a mortgage and insurance. The closing should be in two weeks.

After the closing and with Ryan now being the owner he drove to this unoccupied property. He gave it closer look along with some thought as to what he needed to do. He wrote these items down but he had a major concern about the security of these buildings and this land. The other items could wait but he needed to tackle this security problem first.

Having thought about how to solve this problem he drove to the nearest town. Stopping at the first church he saw, he parked his car and knocked on the rectory door. Pastor Johnathan Gamble opened the door and asked what he could do for him. Ryan explained that he was the owner of some property and was looking for someone to reside rent-free in the small home that was there. He asked if the pastor was aware of anyone who might want to do this.

The pastor said he was aware of a young couple who needed a break in life. He was a young man who had lost part of a leg in Afghanistan and had been a military dog handler. She was a teaching assistant and was pregnant. This young man wanted to start a business training dogs.

At Ryan’s request, the pastor made a phone call to set up a meeting with this young couple, Jim and Sandi Cooper. During the meeting, Ryan who they recognized explained what he was offering them and what he expected from them. Ryan said he was agreeable to Jim training dogs there but to keep the animals to a reasonable number. They appreciated his giving them a place to live rent-free.

On the drive back to his “ranch” as he was now referring to it, he stopped by a farmhouse that was on the other side of the road from his property. Mitch Franklin was working on a tractor when Ryan walked up to him and introduced himself to him. Ryan explained he was now the owner of the land across the road and that Jim and Sandi Cooper were going to be living there.