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

“Harper kicked a boy,” the dry tone now familiar from the phone call said as a matronly looking middle-aged woman marched into the room through a door in the back. “In the knee.”


Del unconsciously unclenched. At least it hadn’t been the balls. Then again she knew better than that.


“We’re a zero tolerance for violence school, Mr. Abbot,” Miss Lewis continued as she sat heavily behind her desk.


“All right. Well, what did the boy do to deserve the kick?” he asked, looking from Miss Lewis to Emily—who was doing a weird expression—and back.


“What did the—Mr. Abbot, violence is neverthe answer!” Miss Lewis looked aghast.


“He called Harper a racial slur, and then he said that her brother was a sexuality-related slur as were you, Mr. Abbot,” Emily said in a tone that must’ve been her official work voice.


“Oh, I see.” Del nodded slowly. “So where’s this boy and his parents?”


Miss Lewis looked confused as hell. “Why would—”


Chapter 42