Who was the surly stranger next door? His presence alarmed widow Beth Lannigen. Yet behind his icy glare she saw a longing that warmed her barely healed heart. For Christmas, Beth set out to make her neighbor smile. Logan Ward needed solitude, not the holiday cheer of the blond angel and her too-cute son. But soon he was listening for Beth's knock at the door. Around mother and child, he felt like the hero he'd once been hailed—and that was dangerous for a man whose heart was thawing.