Justin O'Dwyer is 19. Four days ago, his mother died of a drug overdose, and now Justin is back in Enterprise, Oregon, trying to figure out how to raise the younger siblings he's afraid of losing to the foster system. Justin is completely out of his depth. Harper is six, and hates him. Wyatt is four and doesn't remember him. And baby Scarlett, at fourteen months, has never even met her big brother before. When Scarlett gets sick and won't stop screaming, and when Harper runs off in the middle of the night, Justin is at the end of his tether. In desperation, he knocks on a neighbor's door begging for help.<br><br>Del Abbot is 38, and living in his grandparents' old place in Enterprise after his marriage broke down and he lost his restaurant in the divorce. He's a chef, even had his own show on cable for a while, but now he's looking for a new start, if he could just figure out what exactly that entails. When the O'Dwyer family barrels into his life one night, Del can't refuse to help. What begins as a trip to the hospital becomes a regular child-minding gig while Justin struggles to find his feet. And the more time Del spends with Justin, the more they both want more than friendship. But small town life comes with its own bigotry, and, in Justin's case, that bigotry has always been close to home.<br><br>When an act of violence threatens to destroy the small family they've built, both Justin and Del need to put aside their pasts and reach for their future together.

Family Recipe

“Besides, I don’t want him to feel like he needs to feel something out of gratitude.”


She giggle-snorted. “You’re not ready to be his sugar daddy?”


Del groaned again. “I’m going to hang up now. Good night. Let me know what Jayla and the others say?”


It hit Del then, how lonely Justin must’ve felt. He didn’t have family to rely on. Not like Del, who could pick up the phone literally at any point of his day and get someone’s opinion, help, or just a dose of love immediately.


Del wasn’t sure if it was his job, but he decided then and there, he could provide at least some of those things for Justin and his siblings, because someone had to.


The next day, Del was frowning at his notes spread on the island. He was really trying to work on the cookbook, but none of his old recipes sparked his interest.


Chapter 22