She wasn't looking for love. She wasn't even looking for Christmas.

But hope has a way of knocking on the door when the heart finally whispers "enough."

Dr. Ava Morgan has spent ten years being the strong one. The capable one. The woman everyone calls when they need something-and she always delivers.

She raised two kids alone after her husband's sudden death. She built a career helping other people's children find their way. She showed up, held it together, and never let anyone see her break.

But this Christmas, Ava is exhausted. Her adult children expect her to host the perfect holiday while treating her like she's always available. Her job drains every ounce of energy she has left. And the loneliness she's been ignoring for a decade is becoming impossible to bear.

Then one stormy night, her car breaks down on a deserted road.

And Malachi Rhodes stops to help.

He's a former firefighter who now runs a community youth center. He's kind, steady, and emotionally present in ways Ava has forgotten men could be. He doesn't try to fix her. He doesn't rush her. He just sees her-the woman beneath the armor, the person everyone else takes for granted.

As Christmas approaches, Ava finds herself opening doors she thought she'd locked forever. But her children don't understand. Her fear won't let go. And learning to receive love after years of only giving feels like the hardest thing she's ever done.

Can a woman who's spent a decade surviving finally give herself permission to live?

Can love find you when you've stopped believing it exists?

And what does a miracle look like when it comes wrapped in snow?