Keely was reluctant to move but the fire had burned low again and the night air was cold. She helped him pack up their things. Back in the old Volvo, Euan turned up the radio and they wound their way back to Levallier Dell accompanied by the comfortingly familiar sounds of the Beatles, Elvis and the Delltones. Keely hummed along happily. Euan and her dad shared the same tastes in music.

* * *

The lights from the huge windows of the River Dynasty restaurant shone brightly, like a beacon on the hill. Flynn stopped in the parking area by the front door. He could have walked but he was running late. He’d been working on some trellising all afternoon and had driven the tray-top ute back to the studio. There’d only been time for a quick shower and change and he’d jumped back in the ute to drive next door for Theo’s dinner.

He’d noticed no lights had shone from his own house as he’d driven out. Flynn did wonder briefly what his father was doing. Probably taken Keely for a meal in town. He had no fear Euan would have accepted Theo’s invitation. The two men had never been friends and Theo’s involvement in the cask wine co-op had set them firmly on opposite sides. Then he’d purchased land from Euan’s friend Connor in a manner Euan believed was underhanded and that had been the final nail in the coffin. Euan usually avoided anything to do with River Dynasty and its family of workers.

It had all started years ago. The two men had had a falling out over a small dingle in the main street when Theo first arrived in the district. Euan had backed into Theo’s new car with his old one. Euan had accepted the blame and, to be fair to his dad, Flynn was fairly sure he would have apologised, paid up and been done with it but Theo had made a huge fuss in front of everyone in the street. Euan had got his back up and said the insurance companies could sort it out and they’d found more reasons to dislike each other ever since.

Flynn got on okay with Theo but his own intention had been to avoid the dinner. Often events at River Dynasty were a bit over the top for Flynn’s liking. It was meeting with Kat that morning that made him curious. She was easy to talk to and had shared his interest in the various screw caps and glass stoppers they’d been shown. He also discovered that she had studied business management at university in Sydney and gone on to study winemaking in New South Wales.

He smiled as he got out of the ute. It wasn’t as if he had anything else to do tonight. It was worth attending one of Theo’s parties to have the chance to get to know Kat better.