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 nod. “Sure,” I say, and when he stands, I tug at his pant leg until he leans down over me. “Thanks,” I whisper, giving him a kiss. He’ll call the office for me, he’ll handle it all. Tomorrow, too, he’ll get me through it. Let Jessie show up, if she has to. Dan’s here for me, I’ll survive. 43: Penny’s Pills


Together we finish the back room around the same time that the sunlight peeking in through the single window takes on a golden, end of the day hue. Shadows grow like cobwebs from the boxes and bags we’ve gone through and set aside—it seems like all we did was move the mess from one side of the room to the other. But the walls are bare now, only nails and a few stray flecks of tape left from the pictures that used to hang there, and you can see the floor, it’s a light-colored, unstained wood that hid beneath a handmade rug for all these years. There’s dust in the corners, a few paperclips, some tiny pieces of torn paper, shit that will be swept up soon enough. 


Chapter 144