Love Letters From the Grave(57)

In fact, Charlie loved working with his angel for life, setting up and running their first home. Even though it was a rental home, his most common dream while in prison - having a loving wife, like his mother, and owning a home, filled with his children, and with the aromas of baked breads and biscuits - was beginning to come true.



The first weekend of their third month of marriage dawned with great weather, so they decided to make a trip over to the lake to see if there were any cabins for sale and to have a meal or two at The Amish House. They had decided that they would probably spend a year or so in their rental home, while they took their time in looking around for a home to buy. In the meantime, they decided, perhaps, to buy a cabin on the lake, where they could go on weekend fishing trips - if they could find one on sale at a reasonable price.

They left for the lake early Saturday morning and arrived at The Amish House in time for an early lunch. Their many Amish friends were happy to see them, and during a delicious and filling lunch, they talked to a few of them about their desire to find an affordable cabin on the lake which they could buy. There were several for sale, and their friends also gave them a note of introduction to a realtor friend of theirs. He confirmed that there were, indeed, at least two properties for sale and that there might be a third that would soon go onto the market. They, then, accepted his invitation to take them to see the two properties that, for sure, were for sale.

They liked both listed properties and were trying to decide between then when the realtor suggested that they stop by to see the third property. They agreed, but when they arrived at the address, they found no indication that it was for sale. However, they noticed a man trimming the shrubbery on the next-door property.

‘Hello,’ called Charlie. ‘Are we right in thinking this place is for sale?’

‘I believe so,’ said the neighbor, ‘although it’s not on the market yet.’

‘Do you think they’d mind if we looked around?’

Molly could see the potential of it even from the car. The one-acre property had a nice, open stand of large maple, beech, walnut, oak, pines and assorted other trees. It also boasted a nicer dock than the other two properties, with a beautiful motorboat tied up to it.

‘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.