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

Maybe he does, because he doesn’t mention the funeral home again. Instead, his hand rubs the base of my neck, slipping into my shirt between my shoulder blades, his skin warm on mine. “Your sister mentioned another powwow tonight,” he says.


“Powwow?” I get the idea he’s simply trying to make conversation and that saddens me. Why can’t we just be quiet together? Is our relationship that strained right now, that he feels the need to fill the silence around us with idle chatter?


“In the living room?” Ah yes, one of those, and for all the times I spent wanting to join in while growing up, I’m not up for it again, not after last night. I needed the rum to get through Penny’s story of how she found Evie…in a low whisper, Dan tells me, “I don’t really think you should go. Unless you want to?”


I press my face against his thigh and shake my head. “I’ve got to clean up in here,” I say—it’s as good an excuse as any. “You go, babe.”


Chapter 90