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

Justin fumbled around for the call button with his left hand instead.


He was hurt—obviously—but underneath all of that he was terrified. He couldn’t remember exactly what had happened at the house. He couldn’t remember anything at all after Steve started kicking him. Where were the kids?


“Hi, Justin,” a woman in pastel scrubs said as she walked into the room. “Can you tell me how you’re feeling?”


Justin made a dry sound in the back of his throat, but couldn’t get any words out.


“Okay, I’ve paged the doctor, but I’m just going to check your vitals first. You’ve been out for a few days.” She began to read the screens on the equipment and jot down notes. “Your family has been really worried. They’ll be happy to know you’re awake again.” She smiled at him. “I’ll call them and tell them they can come and see you after the doctor’s been. It’s past visiting hours, but that’ll be our secret, okay?”


Chapter 67