The kid pulled free and was out the door fast, but one pump of the pedal and Tony caught up with his cousin, sulking like it was going out of fashion. The open door slapped the little dickhead on the arse, and swallowed acres of dust as it slammed shut, meaning Tony had to shout.

‘I don’t want you hanging around, mate. You can fucking walk to your dad’s place!’

There, he’d managed it. No cousin moping around his room the night before the wedding. Goodo.

But as the dust cleared and the sun hit Jamie’s face, Tony was thrown by the man who emerged. The jaw, the tuft of hair at the neck, and the strong brow all combined into a look so rugged that his hard-on started to press against his undies.

Shit!

Tony slammed his foot down on the accelerator and obliterated his view of the kid with another cloud of dust. He didn’t ease up until he reached the gate into The Mulgas, where it was better to go slow so stones didn’t fly up onto the new paint job. Down the hill, he saw Uncle Daniel and Alan on the verandah. As Tony rolled to a stop, Alan waved from the old lounge and his uncle lifted a tray of meat to the barbecue.

‘Just in time for dinner, fellas,’ Uncle Daniel shouted, slapping sausages onto the hotplate.

Tony took his time avoiding the smoke from the barbie as he crossed the lawn, but just as he hit the steps he winked at Alan and said: ‘I fucking love the smell of barbecued meat,’ before helping himself to a beer from the fridge inside the laundry door.

‘Jamie, you want a beer?’ Uncle Daniel asked.

When there was no response, his uncle turned to see the old vehicle in the sun by the pepper tree. ‘Jeez, Bill did a good job on the old car,’ he added. ‘Goes alright?’

Tony nodded. ‘Runs real nice. Took her for a spin over to the Jenkinsons.’

‘Yeah?’ Uncle Daniel said, looking like he was still expecting Jamie to show.

Tony looked at his feet and sniffed. ‘Put it this way, Uncle Daniel,’ he said. ‘Bringing Jamie over for tea would have been a waste of good snags.’

‘What do you mean?’ his uncle said, squashing rissoles with a spatula.

‘Well, with Jamie being the way he is,’ Tony said, hoping his uncle would get it.

‘What about him?’

‘He’s a vegetarian,’ Alan said.

‘Oh, that,’ Uncle Daniel said, pulling a weird face. ‘I didn’t think he’d be keeping that up while he was staying around here. He’ll bloody starve.’

‘Well, he’s got Mother running around making vegetarian rissoles,’ Tony said.

‘What’s in a vegetarian rissole, for fuck’s sake?’ Uncle Daniel asked, and threw back a mouthful of beer. They all laughed.

‘Vegetarians,’ Alan said after a moment, and they all laughed more.