A Nantucket Affair (Nantucket Beach Plum Cove #4)(41)

“It’s out of our hands now. Let’s hope Lauren can work her usual magic,” Beth said.

“It’s too soon to celebrate, but how about going for a beer, anyway? We can toast to being done and having the house come out awesome.”

“Lead the way.”



The following Sunday, Chase and Beth were lounging on their sofa, being lazy. They were also anxious to hear from Lauren. She’d called the day before and said there had been a good turnout for the open house. Several people seemed seriously interested and that they’d get back to her. None had said the word offer, though, which made both of them nervous.

“It’s perfectly normal if no offers come right away. Houses don’t always sell from open houses,” Beth said. They knew that was true. Lauren was just so good, though, and had brought them offers twice before right after open houses, so their expectations and hopes were high.

When seven o’clock rolled around and they still hadn’t heard anything further from Lauren, Beth sighed. “I guess it wasn’t very realistic to expect an offer that fast. We’ve been spoiled.”

“I’m not worried. It will sell. It just might not be as fast as we’d hoped.”

At eight thirty, Chase’s cell phone rang, and it was Lauren. He answered and put it on speakerphone so Lauren could hear.

“So, I’m sorry to call so late, but I have good news. Really good news. I’m late calling because,” she paused dramatically, “I was waiting for a second offer! We have two good offers!” She went on to explain the details of the two offers. They were twenty thousand dollars apart, but the lower offer was a cash offer. They wouldn’t have to wait for the buyer to secure financing.

“What else can you tell us about the buyers?” Beth asked.

“Well, the cash offer is from an established couple here on the island and I think they want to buy it for one of their kids. The other offer is a young couple with a baby and it would be their first home. He works remotely for a big software company, and she works part time at Pacific National Bank on Main Street.

“Well, that’s great news. Thank you. Beth and I will discuss and give you a call back.”

He ended the call and turned to Beth. “So, what do you think? Kind of a no-brainer, right? Should I call Lauren back and say we’re taking the higher offer?” Beth wasn’t surprised that he immediately wanted to go with that offer. It was quite a bit more money.

“Well, maybe. What if we asked her to counteroffer the cash people by twenty thousand and let them know we have another offer, but if they can do that we’ll take it?”

“That’s not a bad idea at all. I like it. Best of both worlds.” Chase called Lauren back and she agreed to present the counteroffer to the cash buyers.

They didn’t hear anything further until the next day at lunchtime. Chase and Beth were both in the office when Lauren called.

“Bad news, I’m afraid. They rejected your counteroffer.”

“Shoot. Did they come up at all?” Chase asked.

“No, they said they are comfortable with the original offer and if it doesn’t work out, they saw another house they might go with. Discuss and call me back!”

“So, we go with the higher offer, right? We could really use that twenty thousand.”

Beth hesitated. She hated to say no to a cash offer as she’d seen so many real estate deals fall apart at the last minute. But still, twenty thousand was too much money to say no to.

“Go ahead and call her back.”





Chapter 24





“I really can’t stand this thing.” Rhett scowled at the CPAP mask he was about to put on. It was his third night wearing it and so far, neither he or Lisa had slept much. He just wasn’t used to it and either had it on too tight or too loose, and ended up pulling it off in the middle of the night. Every time he struggled with it or got up, it woke Lisa, too. She was sleeping more lightly because she was worried about him getting sleep. Eventually, he’d get it back on and they’d both fall asleep again.

Over breakfast Saturday morning before Lisa was heading off-island to go shopping, Rhett was in a rare grumpy mood.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that thing. I might just take a break from it for a few days.”

Lisa took a sip of her coffee and considered her words. “You could do that. But do you remember what the doctor said? That if it stays untreated, there is the possibility of sudden cardiac arrest. You could go to sleep and never wake up. If you don’t mind that, then by all means take a break. I would miss you, though, if anything happened. Just saying.”

Rhett sighed. “I hate when you make perfect sense and I’m an idiot. Fine, I’ll wear the stupid thing.”

“Did you give Peter a call like I suggested? He’s worn one for years and might set your mind at ease.”

“No, I totally forgot. I will call him.” He topped off his coffee and sat back down. “How are bookings this week? Still steady?”

Lisa pulled out her smartphone and searched for the Airbnb booking site.

“It has been steady. I haven’t looked yet this morning to see if any new reservations came in.” The site loaded, and she was happy to see that the one vacant room she had left for the next day was just filled. She smiled and scrolled down to look at the newest reviews. There were three new ones. Two were five-star reviews, but best of all one of them was the one-star from the Laceys that was changed to a five.