Yia-yia smiled at her from the other end of the table. Kat relaxed again. “Yes, we went to the pub then caught up with Keely, who is staying at Levallier Dell. We were just hanging out. It was fun.” For a moment, Kat had thought Pappou was going to give her a lecture.

“Who is this Keely?” Yia-yia asked. “There have been a few different stories.”

“You women and your gossip,” Pappou scoffed. “She seems a respectable young woman. Very reserved.”

“How do you know, Theo?”

“I met her up at the gate a few days ago. She was reading our menu.” He lowered his voice. “I heard she was Euan’s girlfriend.”

Kat laughed. “Oh Pappou, I hope you didn’t say anything. Keely is only a few years older than me. She was travelling and got sick. Euan offered her a place to recuperate, that’s all.”

“What does Flynn think of her?” Pappou asked.

“They seem to be friends.” Kat was puzzled by all this interest in Flynn and Keely. It wasn’t the conversation she’d intended to have. She wanted to get her plans out in the open. Now that she’d made her decision she was determined to explain the future she’d chosen and make it clear to her grandparents. Flynn had said she’d feel better once she did and she was sure he was right.

She smiled as she recalled the evening they’d spent at the pub, then afterwards at Keely’s studio. She really had enjoyed their company.

“He would be a good catch, that young man.” Pappou nodded sagely.

Kat frowned. For whom, she wondered.

Yia-yia began clearing the plates and Tony appeared in the doorway.

“Tony,” Yia-yia said. “Have you had lunch? I can make you something.”

“No thanks, Mama. I ate earlier.”

Katerina looked at her uncle. His face was grim.

“How are things in the vineyard?” she asked.

“Most of the chardonnay shoots have shrivelled.”

“You’ve still got time to get secondary shoots, haven’t you? I know Dad managed to recoup a little last time we had damage.”

“Maybe, with care.” Pappou glared at Tony as if he was personally responsible for the hail that had fallen from the sky. “The yield will be greatly reduced.”

“That’s not the only problem,” Tony said. “We’ve found garden weevil in a couple of rows of the shiraz vines.”

Kat helped Yia-yia clear up while she listened. Garden weevil could do a lot of damage if not controlled.

“The same vines as last year?” Pappou asked.

“No, a strip further over on the northern edge.”

“How bad?”

“We’ve trapped four or five per vine.”

“Time to spray the butts.”

“If that’s what you want, Baba.” Tony stepped from one foot to the other. “It’s not too late to try something else, dacron wrap perhaps?”

“Bahh!”