Chapter 4
Parker had the engine ripped apart by the time Kelly appeared on the Pier. He had slung his fishing pole over his shoulder and was carrying a bucket of bait.
"Hey," he called out when he spotted her.
She lifted her head. "Hi, Kelly. Looks like you're going fishing."
"I might if you don't need help with the engine."
She set down her wrench. "You're more than welcome to help."
"Great!" he exclaimed as he set his fishing pole and bait bucket aside. He hopped into the boat and picked up a wrench. "So what's going on?"
"I just got it apart," she admitted.
Kelly looked at all of the parts. She looked at all of the parts. At the same time, they spotted the problem. "Not going to be an easy fix," he admitted.
"It never is," Parker agreed. "Looks like I need parts."
She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. She asked if the part was in stock. Finding out it was, she asked for it to be delivered and offered her credit card number. She hung up the phone.
"You get delivery?" Kelly asked.
"Friend of mine owns a boat junkyard," she admitted.
"Cool."
They took a break for lunch while they waited for the part to arrive. Kelly dropped his line in the water, but had no luck with the fish.
"Looks like the fish are taking a nap," Parker observed as she sipped her iced tea.
"Kind of hot today. They will probably be biting later."
He pulled the line from the water.
"Bummer. "
Parker's friend showed up about an hour later with the needed part. They spent the rest of the afternoon repairing the engine and putting it back together. When Parker turned the key, it turned over.
"YES!" she exclaimed, punching the air.
"Good job, Parker."
"Hey, you helped too," she reminded.
"It was fun. And I got to work on a real fireboat. That was awesome."
"Considering your job, I'll bet."
They cleaned up and put everything away. Parker dumped the trash into a bag and tied it up. She would drop it in the nearest can when she left the Pier.
"So, do you want to go for a beer?" Kelly invited.
"Sure," she agreed. "Just let me make a phone call and tell Jim the boat is done."
The beer led to dinner, dinner led to a movie, the movie led to coffee, and coffee led to Kelly kissing Parker good night at her apartment door because he was on shift the next day.
He didn't call her on his next days off and she couldn't call him because she didn't have his number. She was just starting to think he was a figment of her imagination when Jim popped by her apartment to pay her for fixing the boat. She looked at the pile of cash and debated about putting it in the bank or stashing it in her wallet in small amounts. She finally stuffed the money into her purse and drove to the bank. She deposited half, and stuck the other half in an envelope.
She pulled up in front of Firehouse 51 and walked up the long driveway into the truck bay.
"Can I help you?" someone called from the card table set up along the wall.
She walked over to it. "Kelly Severide?" she asked.
"He's in the head," came the answer.
She nodded and reached into her purse. She pulled out the envelope and set it on the table. "Could you make sure he gets that, please?"
"Yeah, sure, not a problem."
"Thanks. Appreciate it," she said as she turned to leave.
"Ma'am?"
She turned to face the table.
"In case he asks, can I tell him who stopped by?"
"Parker. He helped me fix a boat," she said as she resumed her trek back to her car.