After church, he insisted on introducing her to everyone and it took some time to get away. Finally, they sat under the front verandah of the house, with its view up the hill and across the vines to the cellar-door building standing grandly at the top.

She watched while he finished writing in his diary. She smiled to herself. How many times had the cry gone up ‘Pappou has lost his diary’? Then there would be a frantic search until it was found. She remembered sneaking a peek inside one day when she’d been the one to find it on the bathroom shelf – and her disappointment in discovering he wrote nothing more than vineyard facts and figures instead of the secrets her twelve-year-old self had hoped for.

He closed the diary and slipped it into his pocket. “I’m glad you’ve come, Katerina. It’s wonderful to have you here. This is as much your home as the Yarra Valley, you know.” He looked proudly out over the vines spread before them and she couldn’t help but follow his gaze. “It’s your mother’s inheritance and so it is right that you should have a part of it.”

Kat’s gaze jerked from the scenery to her grandfather. “What do you mean, Pappou?”

“I started River Dynasty for my family. As the family grew, the business grew and we began Ocean Dynasty. Your parents’ holdings are only small in comparison.” He stood and cast his arm towards the vines. “This is where the future of the family lies.”

Kat frowned. She was momentarily distracted by Pappou’s steadying grasp of the back of the chair. “Lucky you’ve got a big family to take it on, Pappou.” She kept her tone bright. This was not the conversation she’d imagined they would have. “You should be taking life a bit easier these days.”

“Exactly my point, Katerina.” He turned his piercing gaze on her. “I have sons who manage the vines, make the wine and sell it. I have grandsons who follow in their fathers’ footsteps and one who has become a talented chef and produces fine food for our restaurant, to complement our superior wines. It has become very popular and the new expansion will allow us to cater for big functions. What I don’t have is someone to manage, market and grow our brand.” He bent down and took her hands in his old, weathered grip. “You are that someone, Katerina. There is a huge opportunity here and I need someone young and clever, with bright ideas, to manage it for me.”

She gaped at him. His grasp was firm and there wasn’t any sign of his earlier shakiness but he may as well have been speaking in his native Greek tongue. She couldn’t make sense of what he was saying.