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 used to come home from college every summer just to see you,” Stephen tells me—doesn’t he know when to stop? Can’t he see my tears, the way his words are hurting me? “Even after you stopped coming, I kept hoping…I’d walk over here the first night, sit on the porch with your mom and Ray, ask them all about how you were and what you were doing. Any little part of you I could have, Michael. I clung to that. I thrived on it.”


A tear courses down my cheek and I wipe at it brusquely. “Stephen, please,” I sigh. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”


Chapter 77