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 the first time he’d made the Stew for the kids, and as soon as Harper tasted it, she made a funny little face.


Wyatt ate it slowly, almost thoughtfully, but he wasn’t shoveling it into his mouth like he did with most of Del’s cooking.


Del wasn’t sensitive about his cooking. He tried to eliminate stuff that he knew might be too much for the kids’ palates, but this was the Stew. He’d loved it as a kid!


“Del?” Harper asked after she’d eaten her salad and some of her rice, but only tasted the Stew. “Why does this taste like beer?”


Why do you know how beer tastes like? You’re six!Del kept the words in, and explained to her that it had beer in it, but it had no alcohol. And that she didn’t have to eat it if she didn’t like it.


“I’m happy that you tried it. Maybe you’ll like it when you’re older.” He considered for a bit. “Since you tried it, I’ll find you something else. There’s still some of the quiche I made for lunch. Wyatt liked it.”


Chapter 36