I think Darryl was a convenience to Jodi. He was the older man who was going to take care of her. She may have felt that where they worked, with all the female servers there, he liked her best. But she knew from the beginning he didn't want to remarry. He moved back down to a server position (demoted or by choice??) and then they could date. And then they had financial problems and were about to lose their house. Then she meets Travis...young, apparently successful with a lot of potential FROM THE FIRST NIGHT (going to that EXECUTIVE "ball" or whatever it was), he had lots of friends, and she was the one who going to be with the popular guy in the group. Darryl's days with Jodi were numbered after that, so to speak.
I think Darryl was just a laid back kind of guy caught up with the cute young "blonde" sex kitten.