When Michael Knapp brings his lover Dan Biggs home to meet his parents, he doesn't expect things to go smoothly. His mother's been trying to marry him off for years, and sometimes he isn't even sure his father knows he exists. He has always felt like the shadow son, competing with his terminally stupid older brother and smart-mouthed little sister for his parents' attention. Coming out to them over dinner seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally get noticed.<br><br>But an unexpected phone call interrupts his announcement -- Aunt Evie, the family matriarch, is dead. With Dan in tow, Michael follows his family to Sugar Creek, where he spent his summers growing up, to prepare for the funeral.<br><br>Amid an overabundance of memories and relatives, Michael's world begins to slip. His dysfunctional family, Evie's death, and an old friend's confession all threaten to smother him. Worse, in his grief and confusion he seems determined to inadvertently push everyone away, including his lover. Can he and Dan move beyond his family and his past to a new life together, before Michael's insecurities tear them apart?

It's All Relative

I was barely twenty years old at the time and reveling in a sexual freedom I never knew could exist. A month prior I broke up with boyfriend number three, who was the first guy I ever slept with, and it’s sad but since Dan, I can’t even remember the kid’s face. I remember his name was Matthew and he sat next to me in an economics class, but his features have blurred with everyone else in my past. When I was at Evie’s that summer, though, my heart still hurt for him. Here in my bedroom, Dan’s arms around me, I can’t recall just why I was so torn up over the guy, but I remember the pain, the sleepless nights. Of all my relatives, only Aunt Evie noticed at the time. “You okay, Mike?” she asked, squeezing beside me on the porch swing.


Chapter 11