She deleted his number eighteen months ago. He never stopped waiting.
Sarah Chen has spent eighteen months convincing herself she's fine—successful career, quiet apartment, carefully maintained routine. Then Marcus Winters texts her a week before Thanksgiving: Can we talk about this Christmas? And suddenly the careful walls she's built around her heart begin to crack.
Marcus isn't a villain. He's the man who loved her too much in the wrong way, and the one she pushed away because she was terrified of losing herself in a relationship. Now his mother has invited her to the annual Christmas Eve party, and Sarah finds herself flying to Chicago instead of Aspen—not for closure, but because after five hundred days of running, she still can't breathe without him.
As they reconnect over coffee, old memories, and the quiet magic of a Chicago Christmas, Sarah must decide: is she brave enough to risk her hard-won independence for a love that might actually work this time? Or will fear keep her from the second chance she's been longing for?
A heartfelt second chance romance filled with holiday magic, mutual pining, forced proximity, emotional healing, and the courage to be vulnerable again. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Josie Silver, and Christina Lauren.