‘Help yourself.’
They examined the exteriors as they walked around the property, and could see some of the interiors by peering through the windows. It was, by far, the nicer of the three properties. The realtor gave the next door neighbor his card. ‘Get them to give me a call if they’re interested in selling.’
They didn't have long to wait in hearing from the realtor. The owners of the third property would soon be moving to another state, and were willing to sell at a good price if the buyers could pay them immediately in cash – and for that they would throw in the cabin furnishings, nearly everything in the storage sheds, and the motorboat.
‘All you’d have to do after buying it would be to move in and immediately enjoy yourselves,’ the realtor told them.
In less than an hour Charlie called the realtor back to tell him that they would accept the offer. They would bring a bank cashier’s check with them on Saturday, and would hand over the check to the sellers on the spot. In the meantime, the realtor should draw up the papers.
‘And I’ll bring a check for your fee, too,’ said Charlie. ‘Half price, I’m assuming, given that it wasn’t listed.’
The realtor laughed. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘It was about the easiest sale I’ve ever done.’
Molly and Charlie looked at each other. There was a sense of ease to it – a feeling that they’d been presented with this house in the same way they’d been given each other. It was meant to be.
They were so excited that they could hardly wait until Saturday.
The realtor drove the three of them to the property, where they were invited into the cabin where they were relieved and not surprised to find that that the interior was beautiful. The five of them spent an hour enjoying coffee and cinnamon rolls, while the previous owners shared information about the property and boat. The boat was only six-years old, and was powered by a 20-horsepower Evenrude engine. It had attachments to make it both more comfortable and more effective for fishing. There were also water skis, in excellent condition, in the storage shed.
On the way back to the realty office, they invited the realtor to join them for lunch at the Amish restaurant. As ever, the food was plentiful. The warm, aromatic biscuits were so good, and so reminiscent of his mother's, that Charlie had Sarah bring him several orders of them, two at a time, lavishing them with butter before experiencing the joy of eating them. Then Charlie and Molly said their goodbyes and drove to their new, beautiful cabin on the lake.
They spent the rest of the day becoming acquainted with their cabin, the contents of the two storage sheds, and the boat and boat dock. The cabin had two bedrooms, one with a queen-size bed and one with a twin-size bed, and a small bathroom, containing a stall shower, a toilet, and a sink, in between. The third room, which took up half of the cabin, served as a living room, dining room, and kitchen combined. The room contained a small oak dining table with four matching chairs; two padded rocking chairs, and a small, leather, three-seat sofa. Each bedroom had a window, the bathroom had a skylight, and the great room had a large picture window, with a view of the lake, above the kitchen sink, and a large window, with a wooded view, on the other side of the room. The interior of the house was very light, which complemented the freshly painted, pastel colored walls, which were hung with several landscape paintings. It was beautiful, and they had achieved a fantastic bargain in buying it.
After an outdoor inspection, the couple took their boat out onto the lake, staying out until twilight, making sure that they docked the boat before dark. Motoring far out onto the lake and along the shores, they discovered that there were two filling stations on the lake, one with a restaurant and the other sporting a general store and a cafe with a bar. The boat was wonderful, and they looked forward to many hours of pleasure with it, boating, water skiing, and, above all, fishing – and sharing their cabin and boat with their relatives and friends.
They spent a glorious night in love-making, talking about their new cabin and the beautiful area of the lake but, mostly about how fortunate they have been that God arranged for them to meet, was providing for them, and was escorting them into a heavenly future filled with love, beauty and pleasure.