The Greatest of These by Greg Wendleton (booksvooks txt) 📕

“Water, just water would be great.”

As quick as he was this morning, Scott was right back with three bottles of Fiji water. Only the best when preparing for a million-dollar sale.

“So, how do you want to proceed? Shall I draw up an offer?”

“Well, like I said, I need to confirm that our ship has come in before we sign anything.”

“I understand. How about we do this. I’ll draw up the offer and have everything ready for signatures. I think we should go in with a full price offer at $1.35 million. That should make the sellers happy and keep us out of a bidding war. When you have confirmed your good fortune, you give me a call and we can schedule a time to meet and sign the paperwork. Would you be able to write an earnest check for say...$10,000?”

Chad and Jamie locked eyes and Chad knew what his response would be. “That sounds like a good plan. We should be able to get back with you by noon tomorrow.”

“Well, congratulations! One more question, will you be financing this purchase, or paying cash?”

“It will be a cash transaction.”

A huge smile broke out on Scott’s handsome face and he nodded. “Well okay then!”

They stood, shook hands and agreed once more to be in touch by noon tomorrow.

“Can I buy you dinner before you head back to Paia?”

“Oh, no thank you Scott. You have been more than generous with you time today. We will stop in Paia before we go back to our cottage and grab a bite to eat. Maybe I can check on the status of my business transaction while we eat.”

“Well then, I’ll bid you a good evening and a safe drive back. Be careful, these roads get a bit tricky at night.”

Chad and Jamie climbed into their rental car and realized it wasn’t nearly as nice at Scott’s BMW 7 series sedan. We might have to get one when we return home, thought Chad. Home, hmmm, should they just move to Kihei and sell their home in San Antonio? That would be something to think about.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The drive from Lahaina to Paia took a full hour as Chad drove cautiously along the western coastline of Maui on Highway 36 and then made the journey across the island on Highway 30 bending east as it became the Hana Highway.

Chad was ravenous and craving a greasy cheeseburger after having had the Lobster Tacos at Fleetwood’s nearly eight hours ago. Jamie was too excited to think about food, so she agreed that Rock and Brews in Paia would be a good place to grab a burger.

They parked the rental car across the two-lane Hana Highway in a small lot designated for their customers and walked the fifty feet to the front door of the establishment. It was a nice crowd for a Monday night, but there was room, even socially distanced, at one of the long, community style tables. Chad and Jamie sat opposite each other in the center of the table. Their waiter quickly approached them and provided two menus and took their drink orders. A Blue Moon was what Chad was craving, but it wasn’t on the menu. So a Boomtown Ingune Belgium White Ale seemed to be close and that’s what Chad ordered, while a glass of Kendall Jackson Reserve Chardonnay was Jamie’s choice.

When the waiter arrived with their drinks, he took their food order. A medium-well, Smoke House burger for Chad and Street Nachos for Jamie. Holy crap, they were both throwing caution to the wind and going deep with the grease was the first thought that came to Chad’s mind. Oh well, you only live once!

While they waited for their food order and sipped on their drinks, two muscular men strode confidently into the restaurant. They didn’t seem to fit the rest of the clientele looking more like bikers or brawlers, not tourists or locals. With gaiter masks on and ball caps, about all you could see were their eyes and a little bit of their foreheads. They looked very intense. To Chad and Jamie’s dismay they chose to sit at the end of their community table, closest to the door.

They nodded and both said, “Evening.”

Chad looked over at them and replied, “Evening to you as well.” Jamie sat quiet and took a sip of her wine.

Chad pulled up the messaging ap on his phone and saw that he had received a text message as they were driving from Lahaina. It was stamped as having arrived at 7:11pm local time. It was from his team in Texas.

Everything is lovely!

He texted back: Is the loading complete?

Almost instantly he received the response he was waiting for:

Complete. Ships depart at 11pm PST. Payment promised by 9am tomorrow.

It’s a beautiful thing! Have a great night. I’ll call in morning.

Chad looked directly into Jamie’s blue-green eyes and smiled from way down deep like Jamie hadn’t seen in many years. “It’s done.”

She reached across the table, took Chad’s hands in hers and kissed them gently. She looked back up at him and simply stated, “I love you Chad Wilhite.”

Their food arrived a few minutes later and they dove into the burger and street nachos.

Celebrating the good news, they toasted their good fortune and finished their meal. They probably wouldn’t sleep much tonight, due to either excitement or the heavy food sitting in their stomachs. Or both.

The waiter soon arrived with their check and Chad paid with three twenty-dollar bills and told the waiter to keep the change. They got up from their bench seats and noticed, for the first time that the biker, brawler looking dudes had left, leaving a twenty to cover their beers. Walking out the front doors and moving toward the crosswalk to the parking lot, they held hands and whispered about how beautiful a night it was.

When they crossed the Hana Highway and entered the parking lot, they noticed two black SUV’s had parked on either side of their rental