Max swallowed hard, silently muttering incantations in his head to keep himself from fainting. Facing Vonda's extended family was proving to be more nerve-wracking than he had expected during the car ride earlier.

“Have you been seeing Vonda for a long time?”

“Why did you just come now?”

“When did you meet Vonda?”

Max did not know what questions were bombarding him in rapid succession. He only knew one thing; he would have collapsed if a member of Vonda's family had not hurried into the room and said, “Come on, Yale and his family have arrived.”

Phew!

Max did not care if anyone laughed at him for reflexively tapping his...