‘For a slick hipster you look like a ragdoll who’s been tossed around by the family dog.’ He grinned. ‘I like it.’

She ran a hand through her dark brown hair. Normally stylishly scissor-cut by her expensive hairstylist, she’d let it grow out. ‘I don’t have any clients or anyone important to see.’

‘So I don’t count?’ He laughed. ‘Well, then, what else did your mother say?’

‘Oh yeah. She asked me to drive down south to check on my grandad. Maybe stay with him a while.’

‘Is he sick?’ Mike asked.

‘No, not as far as I know. Mum thinks he’s lonely, or in a rut and maybe neglecting his health a bit. He still works, even though he must be pushing eighty. He used to be a foreign correspondent for the ABC and he still keeps busy running the local paper. I think he has some good mates, but he lives on his own. It’s been eight years since my grandmother died. Mum said he seemed a bit down in the dumps.’

‘Has he seen a doctor?’

‘Mum told him to see his GP, but Poppy won’t take any advice from her. He says there’s nothing wrong with him, and perhaps he’s right. She asked me to go and visit him and tell him I need a change of scenery – which is the truth, anyway,’ said Ellie, smiling when she saw the concern in Mike’s dark brown eyes.

‘It’s no hardship. I adore my grandfather and the town where he lives, Storm Harbour. It’s a special place down south on the coast. I spent a lot of time there when I was a kid, even went to high school there for a few terms while my parents were overseas. I know Mum wants to put a bit of a rocket under me, too, so perhaps Poppy is fine and she’s come up with this idea to help me.’ She looked down at the meal the waiter had just put in front of her, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.

‘Maybe,’ Mike said. ‘But visiting your grandad in a sleepy town doesn’t sound like much of a rocket. You’re going?’

Ellie straightened up and tried to smile. ‘Yes, I’ve decided I will, and I’m looking forward to it, in a way. I haven’t seen him in a while. He came to Melbourne five or six months ago on business, and he stayed the night. It was great to show him around Fitzroy. Storm Harbour’s only four hours away but it’s another world, and I haven’t been there for ages.’

‘Well, perhaps getting out of town will help you,’ said Mike quietly.

‘Am I in that bad a state?’ Ellie asked, trying to keep her voice light.