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

Del looked like he didn’t know if Justin was joking or not. “So, yeah. Basic recipes with simple ingredients that you don’t need a bunch of different pans and utensils and gadgets to cook. And it has to be both budget-conscious and healthy and tasty.” He smiled. “I spent the last few years coming up with fancier and fancier stuff for the restaurant because the idea there was to get people to come in for meals they couldn’t make at home. This is really different. It’s a challenge, but it’s a fun one.” He laughed. “Clyde would think I was crazy!”


Justin tried to act casual. “Clyde is…?”


“My ex,” Del said. “Hey, want to help me chop these carrots?”


“Sure.” Justin crossed to the counter, and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Del as they worked. Del peeled the carrots and Justin chopped them. “He was the one you ran the restaurant with?”


Chapter 33