So any mention of Tony lying dead in the reeds was off limits, then.

‘Do you need any help with the funeral?’ he said, going for a second biscuit.

‘Father and I have got everything in order. We can take care of our boy now.’

James nodded, fumbling for ideas while trying to catch crumbs.

‘You’re a day early. They shouldn’t be giving you two days off for a cousin’s funeral,’ she said. ‘I suppose it’s the prospect of getting the farms that’s made you so keen.’

‘Pardon?’ he said, letting several crumbs fall, thinking she must be confused.

The biscuit landslide rushed from his mouth down his front and onto the upholstery between his legs. He put his tea down and started trying to clean it up.

‘Leave it,’ she said.

‘What do you mean, about me getting the farm?’

‘You needn’t worry. Your uncle and I have decided the only way the property can be sold as a going concern is for us to move out.’

‘Why do you have to sell?’ he asked.

‘Because Tony’s left everything to you. Deloraine. Glen Alpine. All the acreage.’

Fuck, Tony. What the fuck?

James felt himself blinking as all the strange events of the day suddenly clarified. His father’s awkward phone messages and the throwaway comments at the real estate office finally made sense. He looked away and tried to picture the neat confines of Tony’s unit, wondering where in that sterile place his cousin had felt capable of such potent secrecy.

‘If you were married and needed a place to start a family, we could understand you taking it on,’ his aunt said, ‘but your brother told me you’re still keeping yourself to yourself.’

The mention of Alan triggered that old spike of jealousy in James, right up his spine.

‘He’s not coming to the funeral,’ she said. ‘Travel is too much when you’ve got kids under the age of seven. Alan’s got quite a head start on you. How old are you now?’

The same old games about birth order. ‘Thirty-four,’ James said.

‘Well, that’s not too late to start settling down,’ she said, leaning forward and encouraging the fantasy. ‘There’s still a school bus into Kippen, which is an enormous help to all the young families out this way. Plenty of local girls are looking for decent husbands like you. You saw what happened when your father picked a city girl.’

James looked right at her, just to be sure she’d actually said it, but even his aunt seemed to think she’d gone too far, shaking her head, eyes closed, tears leaking.