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

Anticipating my response, Dan turns in midstep and leads me a little ways down the hall, away from the crowded front room. He flashes a stilted grin at one of the funeral home employees nearby, then stops a few feet from the closed door and whatever darkness lies in the room beyond. Leaning back against the wall, Dan pulls me to him and we stand together side by side, out of the flow of traffic. From here we can see the front door, held open by another ubiquitous employee. The men in black,I think, stifling a dangerous giggle that rises in me at the thought. Dan gives me a curious glance, half-smiling because he sees the mirth in my eyes and wants in on the joke. Before he can ask, though, I shake my head and frown against a grin that wants to spread across my face. “It’s nothing,” I whisper.


“Will you tell me later?” he asks, shifting so his arm rests against mine.


Chapter 180