December has never been kind to Elara Winters.Every holiday brings bad luck, broken plans, and another reason not to hope.Three days before Christmas, her flight is delayed—then missed—forcing her back to the town she once left behind. Stranded in a season that has always failed her, Elara braces herself for yet another December disappointment.Then she meets Rowan Hale.Quiet, steady, and unexpectedly kind, Rowan helps her in small ways that slowly break through her defenses. For the first time in years, Elara wonders if this December might be different—until a New Year’s Eve truth shatters that hope.Rowan is raising his late brother’s four-year-old daughter.Bound by a promise to never love a life already shaped by loss, Elara must choose between walking away or risking her heart on a future she never planned.A slow-burn holiday romance about bad luck, waiting, and choosing love anyway.