‘You all right?’

Ben picked his nose and stared at the product as if seeking an answer.

‘When I came out, do you remember what you said you admired most?’

Gordon nodded. ‘Your guts. I said you’d proven yourself to be tougher than the toughest opening batsman. Here.’ He opened his arms for Ben to walk into, so he could give—if not quite receive—a hug. He let his eyes fall shut, his mouth in a half-smile.

Ben did not walk into his arms.

‘Hundred percent, guts,’ Ben said. ‘You and Grandpa, you and Dog, you and everyone. Even Uncle Carl. You let them pick on you.’

‘What’s this all about, Benny?’

Ben fought back tears. ‘I always knew that I had an uncle but I’d lost him. Mum sort of dropped hints, Sam mentions him every so often, but you never talk about him. Now he turns up today and you tell me you didn’t really lose him, he just went away. You never did anything wrong, but you walk around like it’s all your fault. Where’s your guts, Dad?’

Ben sought eye contact, but Gordon stared into the vending machine, a cold look on his face. Ben felt unbalanced.

‘Let’s go back.’ A crack ran through Gordon’s voice. ‘And if I were you, I wouldn’t say anything about uncles to your grandparents.’

As Ben watched his father walk down the corridor, he felt he had made an enormous mistake. He had injured him in some unthinkable, unknown way, and Dad was not going to give him any chance to figure out what he had done.

When they got back to the room, Grandpa was making his way to his armchair after poking his nose into Grandma’s medical notes, and she was shouting at him about using his walker.

‘So he’s told you Carl’s moving in with us?’ Gordon asked Norma.

‘I can’t see how he’s going to fit. What on earth is that awful—that awful—Leonie—up to?’

‘Leonie believes in family,’ Grandpa said. ‘It’s one of their traditional values.’

Misinterpreting Ben’s querying look, Grandpa added: ‘I would love to go for an outback road trip. Do you like camping, fella?’

Ben asked his grandmother if she wanted water. She nodded, and Ben evaded the situation by ducking out to the nurses’ station.

‘I’d love to see Chester Dam one last time,’ Grandpa was saying to Gordon when Ben came back. ‘You wouldn’t deny that to your old man, would you? While your mother isn’t using the car?’

‘Oh Lord,’ Norma gasped. ‘You think my hip is the best thing that’s happened to you, don’t you? Your big chance!’