His cousin made no correction. ‘I brought some clippings to put up. Your grandmother told me there was going to be some family history for us all to look at.’

Indicating the long, ugly row of noticeboards at the side, James helped his cousin in silence, pinning photographs and newspaper clippings in the small amount of space left. It made his family tree look even worse, so he decided not to tell anyone that he’d done it.

Cousin Roger made his arrival known throughout the hallway with his bellowing laugh, bearing the new baby on his arm perched like a bright-eyed little birdie. His wife Helen followed with five daughters at her feet. James gave them a little wave, but they all just stared.

‘One day, it’ll be Brandt and Son,’ Roger shouted, lifting his first and only boy even higher, and the little one burst into tears at the prospect of following his father into stock and station sales on the Darling Downs.

As James walked through the gathering, trying to find his mother so he had someone he could talk to, he heard gossip about which rivers were up, which roads were closed, which Aboriginal community was the more risky to pass through on the way into town, and of course, the weather — what it had done the night before and what it was expected to do that afternoon.

Finally, he found someone he knew would be welcoming. Moving with a stick, Grandma came into the room with a broad smile and raised her hands in greeting before collapsing into the chair deftly produced by Aunty Doris, smiling like a game show hostess.

‘I’ve been looking forward to seeing you, Jamie,’ Grandma said as she hugged him. ‘And your mother.’

‘I’ll go and get her,’ James replied, looking into the lines of people emerging from the entrance hall, guessing she’d be out there.

But the bride’s family entered with the bridesmaids before he could get through, and James ended up witnessing the embarrassment when it became clear a place had been set for Johnny Jones next to chief bridesmaid Louise Beaumont.

Mrs Beaumont emerged from the kitchen and quickly removed the crockery, cutlery and place card and silenced her daughter before any fuss could escalate; but word started to spread between tables that Johnny and Louise had split up yesterday, and Johnny’s parents were a no-show.

James eventually found his mother sipping champagne in the lounge off the hallway, chatting to an older couple and smiling far too much, like she wanted to leave.

‘Come in with me?’ she asked, taking his arm.

James nodded, but they were forced to wait when Tony and Leanne passed through the entrance hall and received a round of applause. As the clapping died away, James and his mother found their places, just as trays of food started going around.