The Greatest of These by Greg Wendleton (have you read this book .txt) 📗

more detail and narrowed the search to five that the trio would look at today. Most of the houses were south of Lahaina, in Kihei, where you could get a little more bang for your buck. But their first appointment was just a little bit north of Lahaina on Halelo Street.

They climbed into Scott’s BMW 7 series sedan and headed north on Highway 30 reaching their destination in short order. It was listed at the top of the Wilhite’s budget and was quirky. It had a really nice view of the Auau Channel and a large pool. But it just didn’t seem to speak to either Chad or Jamie.

They looked at another house in Lahaina that again, wasn’t what they were looking for. So, they headed to Kihei. It was a beautiful drive hugging the coastline and by 3:00pm they were at the third house on the list. Chad excused himself briefly to check in on the progress of the shipment with his team back on the mainland. FedEx had done their job and landed at LAX on time and the vaccine was in the final stages of being offloaded and transferred to the refrigerated containers. The fourteen, extra, dummy cargo containers were all staged and ready to roll toward the Port of Los Angeles as soon as the offloading was completed. Nothing to worry about at this point in the process. Chad let out a huge sigh of relief and headed toward the front door to meet up with Jamie and Scott.

A nice home, listed at $1.2 million, but it had a very limited view of the ocean and was a bit underwhelming for the money. So, they quickly moved on to the fourth home on the tour. Again, if they were going to plunk down more than half of what Chad was going to make from this deal, it needed to have some wow factor.

As they drove up to the final home on the schedule, Scott said, “I feel like I saved the best for last. I really think you’re going to like this home. It’s got four bedrooms and two full bathrooms and over 2,100 square feet. So, plenty of bedrooms for when the kids and grandkids come to visit. Best of all, the ocean view and sunsets are amazing. Oh, and it’s priced below your maximum budget.”

“That all sounds great” gushed Jamie as she slid out of the front seat and stared at the home. “It has lovely curb appeal. I can’t wait to go inside.”

“After you my dear” replied Chad.

The inside was just as nice as the outside and the ocean view was just as Scott had described. They could begin to see the sun lowering on the horizon as the time was approaching 4:30pm and the daylight was evaporating on this late February day. The trio checked out the updated kitchen and hall bathroom, perused the three bedrooms and then checked in on the main bedroom and attached bathroom. The consensus was building toward this being the home on Maui that Chad and Jamie had been dreaming of since they first came to the island more than ten years ago. They lingered and watched out the front windows as the sun dropped lower and lower on the horizon validating the decision they were feeling stronger about as the minutes passed by.

“Is this the one?” asked Scott.

“I love it” said Jamie with obvious affection in her voice.

Nodding his head, Chad agreed, “It amazing. It could very well be the one.”

“Well, shall we head back to the office and we can talk some more on the ride?”

“Yes”, Chad and Jamie said in unison.

CHAPTER TEN

As the trio rode back toward Lahaina they watched as the vibrant glow of the sun settled deeper and deeper into the Pacific Ocean over their left shoulders. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets they could ever recall seeing.

“Get used to that, you’ll be able to see a lot more just like this one” Scott stated with some degree of satisfaction.

They rode silently for the next several minutes, then Jamie broke the silence. “Do you think they will be receiving multiple offers on that home? Chad, I don’t want to lose that home.”

Scott sighed and replied, “Well, you never know, but as of right now, there are no pending offers. If you want to ensure you get it, we will need to act quickly though.”

Chad, trying to temper his enthusiasm as well as Jamie’s, joined the discussion. “I will need to confirm a couple of things before we make a commitment and an offer.”

Disappointed, Scott replied, “Oh, I see. How long do you think that will take?”

“Not long. Maybe by tomorrow morning. I’ve got a major transaction taking place and I’m expecting the payment to be made as soon as the ship sails. Funny, when that ship sails, our ship will be coming in! Pretty ironic.”

Scott, not understanding what Chad was talking about just nodded his head and said, “Okay.”

Jamie, knowing full well what Chad meant, turned in her seat and gave him the look. You know, the look that says “Is everything okay. Please, please tell me everything is okay.” Chad gave her a nod and the tiniest of smiles which was enough to calm Jamie’s anxiety.

They arrived back at the office well after six and slowly climbed out of the BMW. Stretching his back, Chad said, “Thank you so much for a great day of house hunting Scott.”

“It’s been my pleasure getting to know you and working with you today. I love what I do, so saying ‘working with you’, just doesn’t seem right though.”

Jamie quickly replied, “I can’t believe what a fun day it’s been and that we actually found a home we both love.”

Chad turned his attention back to Jamie and said, “Honey, don’t give away our desire for the house too much.”

All three laughed and walked into the office where Scott flicked on the lights and led them back to his office.