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

Since Abigail was back from Denver, she and Emily promised to hold the fort with the kids, but it still made Del feel a bit guilty when on the Saturday morning they’d decided to leave, Wyatt hung to his neck like a lifeline.


“It’s gonna be okay, bud, we’ll be back before you know it.”


Harper, who was hugging the life out of Justin, asked for the third time, “When will you be back?”


“Next weekend. It’ll take time to get there and organize everything. Remember we promised to video call you just so you can see your rooms,” Justin reminded patiently, hugging her back and smiling at Del.


“We’ll be fine here! So many things to do next week. We can start on the pumpkin carving and surprise Del and Justin when they get back!” Emily enthused, making Wyatt’s wobbly little smile turn into a more genuine one.


“Yes! And I’m going to help you look for costumes,” Abigail promised.


Chapter 73