Sneak Peak — Travis — Part 1
Travis Burnett glanced around the boardroom table at those gathered. It wasn’t a fancy boardroom, but rather one filled with pictures of family members who had fought and struggled on the Burnett Ranch making it a success.
For over a century, they had worked cattle and made this outfit one of the most profitable and most lucrative in all of Texas.
Now twelve members all related to Eugenia and Thomas Burnett, who started the Burnett Ranch over one hundred years ago, sat around the table to make decisions about their commercial ranch.
A dozen members who he often felt like throttling when they came before the board with their cockamamie ideas, who he knew many would disagree with his latest idea.
And still, he had to try. They had more than enough money. Why not focus on the cattle and horses? Especially now that they were talking about reality television shows coming to the dude ranch.
Not a good idea.
“Why in the world would we want to let a ghost hunting show come to the ranch?” he asked wondering what they were thinking. Or smoking for that matter. “We don’t need that kind of notoriety.”
Most of the board members were in their twenties, all family members with only two of the previous generation still making decisions about their corporation.
“It could draw even more attention and make us even more popular,” his cousin Joshua said.
The fool must not have been visited by their great-great-great-great grandmother. All they needed was for the television show to see her, and oh yes, they would most definitely be the most popular dude ranch in the U.S,—for all the wrong reasons.
“Have you been visited by the ghost?” Travis asked. Was he the only one of this generation who had seen her?
“You don’t believe that nonsense do you?” Joshua said, his smile wide. “Come on, ghosts are not real. And if they are, we should make money on them.”
“Yeah, they need to earn their keep,” his cousin Cody said laughing. “We could make a lot of money on this show, and think of the free advertising.”
“Think of all the looky-loos we’d get. Spend the night at the ranch and see a ghost,” he said.
“She’s not real,” Justin said. “Eugenia Burnett Jones lives on because of her matchmaking reputation.”
“How do you think your ancestors found love,” Aunt Rose asked.
“Oh, please,” Jacob said. “If she was the matchmaker, why aren’t you married?”
Oh, dear, that was not the way to get along with their aunt. The woman could be vindictive if she felt you were not supporting the family business the way she thought you should.
Look for part two next week….
