“Good. Now, I am going to shut my eyes for a few minutes, before we go and see if there’s any major damage.”

Keely watched him leave. He’d been very kind to her, cared about her, showed an interest in what she did and said. Already she thought of him as a reliable friend.

So many times he reminded her of her grandfather. A different generation of course, but it was his manner that made her realise why she was drawn to him. With Euan, she had the same secure feeling she’d had as a young child with her grandfather. She smiled; coming to Levallier Dell had been the right thing to do in many ways.

Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

Kat watched Pappou from the verandah. Her cousin Peter and her uncle Tony were with him. The mid-afternoon sunshine was warm on her face. It was hard to believe that it had been so cold this morning. The men were inspecting the chardonnay vines and from the way Pappou was shaking his head and waving his hands, she didn’t think it looked good.

The local radio had reported hail damage in several places in the region. The severity of the storm certainly hadn’t been forecast and it had taken everyone by surprise.

It wouldn’t be good for their business if the damage was as bad as Pappou predicted. Kat had been given free rein to find out all she could about River Dynasty and how it worked. He wanted her to come up with a package to attract people to their cellar door for all kinds of functions, from conferences and weddings to birthdays and christenings. From what she had seen, a lot of the profits from River Dynasty had been used to set up the newer Ocean Dynasty property further south, and Pappou still had a large loan for the piece of land adjacent to Levallier Dell. His resources were stretched. If he lost the chardonnay, it would be a major blow.

Not only that, Kat knew she had to tell him the truth about her visit to Margaret River. There never seemed to be a right moment but her time was running out. Mal had rung. It had been so good to talk with him and, understandably, he wanted her answer. Never before in her life had she agonised so much over a decision. Michael had been right; she was usually tenacious when it came to making choices. It was just that this time there was a lot at stake.