“Finding a Replacement”

“Morning, sweetheart,” Colin told his baby sister, Raine, as he entered his kitchen and found her already there cooking breakfast. “Sleep well, I hope?”

“Oh, yes, thanks,” Raine replied, as she flipped the bacon over in the frying pan. “I hope you don’t mind me helping myself here to some breakfast. I didn’t want to wake you and well, Adam and I were hungry.”

“Of course not,” Colin smiled, “It’s nice to have someone doing the cooking here for a change. Been a while.”

“Would you like some? I’ve made plenty enough for all three of us.”

“Thanks, maybe just a bit. I’ve actually got to head over to work this morning. Seems there’s a bit of trouble.”

“Oh no, I hope it’s nothing serious,” Raine replied, as she set a plate of food down in front of him.

“No, no, nothing I can’t handle,” Colin assured her, as he shoved a mouthful of eggs into his mouth. “Mmmm... good. Thanks again for the brekkie.” He swallowed the food down, took a sip of coffee, then continued, “Seems with me out of commission here,” he tapped the cast on his leg, “things have gotten a bit backed up down at the garage. I only have the one other mechanic and he’s over-due for some time off. Seems he decided to take it this morning, however, and now the poor lad I’ve got running the front office is having a bit of a panic over irate customers.”

“Oh no! Well, you can’t possibly go down there and start working on cars with that leg of yours, can you?”

“Fraid I might have to. No other choice that I can see. While I’m at it, I might as well have Arthur run an ad in the Times for a new mechanic, too. Not that I can really afford one, but Dom has given me no other alternative here.”

Raine looked at him, a wide smile spread across her face. “I’ve got an idea, why don’t you hire Adam?”

Colin looked at her, smiled, “Don’t you think you might want to ask Adam about that before you start offering him up for a job?” Colin chuckled.

“Ask Adam what?” Adam said, as he sauntered into the kitchen and bent down to plant a kiss on his wife’s cheek.

“Colin here is in need of a mechanic down at his shop and I was just saying he should hire you for the job,” she told him, handing him a plate of food as he sat down at the table next to her.

“You ever do any repair work on cars before, Mate?” Colin asked him, skeptically.

“Yeah, here and there... helped my dad rebuild an engine in his old Ute back in the day,” he took a bite of bacon, washed it down with a gulp of juice, “worked odd jobs here and there over the years... couple crash and dents, machine shops and such. I’m no ace but I can handle my own.”

Colin nodded. “Save me a load of trouble if you could help out doing the minor jobs down at the shop. Mostly regulars... oil changes and such. Don’t get too many major jobs, but when we do, Dom can handle them or I can come down and supervise the work. Work is steady, pay is fair. Earn you enough to get your own place in a month or two. Whatdya say? Give it a go?”

“Sound good. When can I start?”

“Is today too soon for you?”

Adam smiled. “I think I can work that into my schedule, yeah.”

“Alright then,” Colin smiled. “Finish up your brekkie and we’ll drive down there so I can introduce you around.”

TBC...