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

“What’s going on?” Abigail and Harper came into the kitchen as if drawn by mischief.


“Oh, it’s nothing,” Bernie said airily. “Del here just hasn’t told Justin and the kids his real name.”


“What is it?” Justin asked, getting into the spirit of things, and Harper looked curious, too.


“Delbert Leonard Abbot the Third,” Bernie enunciated clearly.


The kitchen was quiet for a moment, and then Abigail, Bernie, Harper, and Justin began to laugh.


“Delbert? Seriously?” Justin hiccupped as he clutched his side, the pain spiking through his insides as he laughed.


“It’s not that funny,” Del grunted, but the corner of his mouth twitched as he pointedly turned away from them. “You have fun, I’m going to check on the grill now.”


He headed outside, and Wyatt scurried after him.


Bernie came to stand beside Justin at the counter, and they both wiped their eyes, grinning like maniacs. The girls left the room, probably to go get Scarlett and go outside.


Chapter 70