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

It was a big kitchen, and it looked newly remodeled. It seemed like a lot for a guy who lived on his own, but what did Justin know about what chefs needed? More than a hotplate and a microwave probably, which was how Justin had lived for years. There was an old farm table over by the windows that looked out into the back yard, and Scarlett was sitting underneath it smashing a couple of toy cars together happily.


The kitchen didn’t smell of any mac and cheese Justin had ever eaten, but he only bought the box stuff. His stomach rumbled when he caught the scent coming from the oven.


“How’s it looking, Chef Harper?” Del asked.


Harper leaned down and peered through the oven door. “Looks good, Chef Del!”


Chapter 26