“I was joking.”

“About the housekeeper, maybe, but you have spent a lot of money in the last month or so. New signs, gravel driveway, new car…”

“It’s not wasted money, it’s investing in the future of our business.”

“We’ve always managed fine with what we’ve got.”

Euan sat at the table with his meal and Flynn pulled up a chair. They needed to have this conversation. Now that Keely was out of the house, maybe they’d get the chance. He took a calming breath.

“I know we have, Euan, but times have changed and we have to change if we want to remain competitive.”

“Our wines speak for themselves, you know that. The distributor only said the other day it’s hard to find an Australian wine that has such good persistence with food as ours, and our sauvignon blanc is sought after.”

“And that’s why you had trouble selling it?”

Euan put down his cutlery. He’d hardly touched his meal. “I didn’t have trouble selling it, Flynn. They wanted me to commit to more than we’ve got.”

“You said yourself it’s better to run out and keep demand high.”

“If I want this guy to keep buying I have to supply him with more.”

“We could try another market. You know I’d like to try a different variety and you’ve filled our last remaining hectares with more sauv blanc vines.”

“They do so well at the Haystack Block.”

Flynn put his elbows on the table and clenched his hands together. They’d bought the second piece of land several years earlier after he’d returned from Europe and come home to stay. He’d pressured his father then to expand. It had been a good opportunity and Euan had given in when he’d lost the property between Levallier Dell and River Dynasty to Theo. The Haystack Block was the other side of Margs but complemented the land they had at Levallier Dell. They had more sauv blanc and semillon vines there, which Flynn was using to make a blend. SBS was very popular in their region, and they’d planted merlot, which they’d never had before. Getting those vines in the ground had been one of the few wins Flynn had had with his father. It was new for them but not groundbreaking for the region. He’d hoped to have more control over what happened on the Haystack Block but Euan’s back-door tactics had blown that idea away.

“You know I’ve been looking at planting something different. Something that would be totally new for us and for Margaret River.”

“Why change what we’re good at, if it’s what the market wants?”