He didn’t look back. If he was honest, he’d been disappointed when Keely had said she was spending the day with her friends. He would’ve asked her to go to Perth. Kat had gone her own way once they reached the city with several errands of her own. Keely could’ve come with him to collect the labels. It would have been great to have her there for the first look, gauge her reaction and spend time with her while he waited for Kat.

Instead she’d been with this Marty and his mates. Flynn rolled his shoulders and sat at the desk. Why should he care where she’d been? She was always polite to him but he thought she would be that way with everyone. There’d been no indication she thought of him as any more than a friend.

He looked at the paperwork in front of him but it was her shy smile that played on his mind. There was something about it that brightened his day. He’d got used to her being here, looked forward to seeing her each day, appreciated her opinion. She’d said she’d planned to leave after the weekend but maybe she’d stay longer if the teaching job worked out. He hoped so; he would be sorry to see her go.

His thoughts drifted to Euan and his surprise lady friend, Dianna. By the sound of it, she was going to be around a lot more. Flynn loved Levallier Dell but perhaps the time had come for him to move on as well, give his father some space and find something that didn’t set them at loggerheads. He thought of his recent conversation with his mate, Tim, who was part of a family winery in the Adelaide Hills. They were expanding and needed a business manager who understood winemaking. His discussions with Kat about her new job and making a move away from her family had stirred a restlessness in him. Tim’s suggestion he look at the job specs was tempting.

* * *

Kat was sipping the cup of coffee Yia-yia had made her when Pappou burst through the door with a face like thunder.

“You’re back. I’ll have one of those.” He stabbed a finger in the air towards the coffee pot.

Yia-yia simply got up and went to make it. Kat marvelled at her calm compliance. What was wrong with Pappou? She hadn’t remembered him as such an old grump, but perhaps he’d always been that way and she hadn’t realised.

“Is something wrong, Pappou?” she asked.

“Someone has poisoned my vines.” He lowered himself into his chair.

“Poisoned?” Yia-yia’s voice echoed a split second behind Kat’s. “Are you sure, Theo?” Yia-yia asked.

“Of course I’m sure. Four rows of semillon vines have been wiped out. They are dying as we speak.”