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

As if he knows my mind is drifting, Dan asks, “Did she say anything to you?”


“My name,” I whisper. My voice is muffled against my hands like a secret. “Like she was looking for me. Michael? Michael? And I go, right here, I’m right here, Aunt Evie. That’s when she saw me, and she sort of sighed my name and disappeared.” Taking a shuddery breath that frightens me, I tell him, “When I was coming back in the room, I thought I heard her say I was right, she does like you. I was right.”


Dan doesn’t speak. I look up at him and see something I don’t recognize in his eyes, something sad, something old and distant like a memory. “You don’t believe me?” I ask quietly. Of course he doesn’t. Who would? “Maybe I was still half-asleep—”


Chapter 158