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

Though it took me most of the day to make the mess, I manage to get the room put back together again in a couple hours. The boxes I stack together along one wall, the bags propped in front of them—I’ll pick up where I left off in the morning. At least now we can walk in the room, and our suitcase isn’t buried beneath a ton of crap, the bed isn’t hidden under armloads of clothes. When I’m finished, I undress slowly, taking my time just in case Dan is on his way back. I pull off my shirt, my jeans, my socks, turn down the sheets and sit on the edge of the bed, waiting…


At some point, I turn off the light and crawl beneath the sheets. I leave the lamp beside the bed on for him. I don’t want to fall asleep without him, I don’t like this. I should have said I was sorry earlier, when he brought me dinner. Why didn’t I say anything? Why did I send him away again?


Chapter 91