“I’ll leave you to it.” Keely headed for the door. “I’m going to the beach tomorrow with a friend, so I think I’ll get an early night. Last night’s party is catching up with me.”

“You’ll eat first, won’t you?” Euan said.

“I’m not that hungry and I can make a snack at the studio if I need.” Keely turned back to the others. “Nice to meet you both, Dianna and Maggie.”

Dianna gave a wave from the other side of the room where she had been examining the artwork on the wall. Maggie smiled and turned her steady gaze on her brother. Euan made a show of opening the door for Keely. Her last sight was of Kat, who was giving her a pleading look from the kitchen where she stood next to the stony-faced Flynn.

Keely stepped out into the fresh air and let out a long sigh. She was looking forward to escaping to the peace of her little studio.

Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

Theo rattled around, looking for the right container. There were plenty of others who could see to the spraying but he wanted it done now and everyone else was busy. He peered at the writing on the plastic drum and cursed again. A globe had blown and it was quite dull in the shed.

His eyesight was not as sharp as it used to be. His wife had been nagging him for ages to get glasses but he managed without them. Everyone he knew who had glasses for reading spent their whole time looking for the damn things. He had enough trouble with his diary.

Thankfully the downy mildew outbreak was small but he wanted it seen to now. He was determined to eradicate it before any further damage was done. The burst of hot weather could be enough to expose the vines to secondary infection. He’d seen the ruin downy mildew could cause and he knew he couldn’t face any more losses.

He didn’t want Euan blaming him if it spread to Levallier Dell either. The outbreak was close to their boundary. Who was to say it hadn’t come from Levallier Dell in the first place? The pestilence had to come from somewhere.

While he mixed the spray his thoughts drifted to Katerina. She hadn’t come home again the night before. She was a headstrong girl. Always had been but he liked that. As a young girl she had her cousins dancing to her tune. Surely Flynn Levallier would be an easy target for her charms.

Everything was ready and he sat down on a drum to write in his diary. He had just slipped the battered little book back into his pocket when Tony arrived. Theo stood up quickly and teetered as the world spun.