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 felt nauseous again, swallowing against the bile in his throat.


Justin made a whimpering sound, but his eyes remained closed. Just as he heard the sirens turn off when the emergency people stopped in the yard, Del leaned forward and spoke into Justin’s ear.


“You’ll make it. You won’t leave us. I love you. I love you, Justin, and I’ll take care of the kids for you. Just hang in there.”


And then he was pulled away by someone, and he let himself go numb. The other option, breaking apart, was out of the question.


Emily swooped in as soon as she’d gotten the news. She sat there in the waiting room with Del and the kids, stroking Wyatt’s hair as he slept on the chair with his head on her lap.


Scarlett was asleep on the chair next to Del and whimpered every time he took his hand off her small body. Harper battled sleep the most, but she jerked awake every time she fell asleep and startled Abigail who was half-asleep herself next to her.


Chapter 64