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

Ginger sighs. “Don’t you hate when that happens? My daddy was always stealing my guys.”


Across the room, Theresa laughs. Then she pats the floor beside her and says, “Sit with me, Mike.”


To be honest, going through old clothes isn’t what I had in mind when I came up here. I was thinking more of a continuation of what Dan and I started this morning, and I don’t like that he’s not here with me. I should’ve went with them—how hard can it be to change a lock? “What are we doing this for anyway?” I want to know.


“Because Penny can’t,” Theresa tells me. She shoves more clothes into the bag as she talks—it’s already swollen like a full sponge and I’m almost sure I see the plastic stretch thin in places. “This is old stuff. I’m talking ancient—most of the clothing I’ve found so far belonged to Aunt Evie’s parents, if you’ll believe it. I don’t think anyone ever got rid of anything in this house.”


Chapter 72