Euan was regarding her with interest.

“It’s…” She hesitated. “Is it okay to describe a wine as delicious?”

“Of course, mademoiselle, you are the customer and the customer is always right.”

She took another small sip. She would have to take it easy. She hadn’t eaten much today and her head was buzzing. “It’s most certainly delicious then.”

“I hope you like fish.” The fire was low now and he got up to tend the alfoil packages on the wire rack he’d placed over it.

“I love fish. My dad is a dedicated weekend fisherman. It’s not very often we don’t eat fish of some sort.”

“I got these from a friend. I prefer to swim with the fishes rather than catch them but I enjoy eating them all the same.”

“I learned to fish on the Swan with my grandpa.”

“The childhood holidays?”

“Yes.” Keely took another sip of her wine and told him about her trips to Perth as a child and about her wonderful grandparents.

Euan poured more wine and before long he was setting the alfoil parcels on the blanket. They unwrapped them and the fish steamed, releasing a sweet, mouth-watering aroma. He produced crusty bread rolls with butter, wedges of lemon and a fork each.

The fish was as delicious as the wine. They ate in silence with the soft crackle of the fire as their background. Euan had added more wood to it after he took off the fish and they sat in the glow of the flames. It was a simple meal but tasty and filling.

Once the fish was all gone, they moved closer to the fire with their wine. He found a log for her – sitting low to the ground was becoming uncomfortable – and then he settled back on the blanket.

Euan was easy company and Keely told him about her desire to visit the regions of Western Australia that her grandfather had described.

“I have to admit I haven’t seen much of the country north of Perth. There are some great surfing beaches up there. I’ve visited a few of those,” Euan said. “I came to Australia in the early seventies.”

“You weren’t born here?” Keely had the impression he’d always lived at Margaret River.

“No. I spent most of my childhood in my father’s home region of Bordeaux in France. My Irish mother made sure Maggie and I knew her homeland as well and I spent some time in other wine-growing districts of Europe. I came to Australia as a young man. My father wanted me to check out the wine regions in eastern Australia and I was keen to try the surf. Lucy taught me all about it.”

“Your wife was an Australian?” Keely was sipping the last of her wine more carefully now. Euan drained the bottle into his own glass.