Sweetheart Diary #60

High school sweethearts Gerry Burlson and Sue Rowan had their whole future mapped out—until he was drafted and she stayed behind to build a life of her own. Two years later, while working at an electronics firm, Sue finds herself drawn to her coworker Tom Dixon, a man who makes her question everything she thought she knew about love and loyalty. When Gerry finally returns home, Sue must confront the painful truth that two years of separation and personal growth have changed them both in ways that no engagement ring can repair.

Helen has been living a quiet, disappointing life when her Aunt Ella reveals a desperate situation: she's been writing letters to a soldier stationed in Alaska, but claimed to be young and beautiful—and sent his photograph instead of her own. Now the serviceman, Jim Martin, is arriving on leave expecting to meet the girl from her letters, and Aunt Ella needs Helen to step in. When Jim arrives, Helen finds herself face-to-face with a man who seems like he could be exactly what she's been searching for.

A young woman determines she'll never sacrifice her independence for love, so when she falls for Mark, she makes her freedom non-negotiable—flirting freely with other men and keeping her options open while expecting him to simply accept it. But as Betty continues to test his patience with Kirk Benson and other suitors, she discovers that Mark's easygoing acceptance masks a breaking point she never saw coming. Sometimes the chains we fear aren't the ones we think we're avoiding.

When Ellen plans to break up with Bob at a secluded picnic area, her father enlists a publicist to orchestrate a dramatic rescue that will prove the quiet, peaceful man is more capable than his young girlfriend realizes. As Bob springs into action to help a swimmer in distress, Ellen gets a chance to see him in a completely new light. Will this unexpected moment of heroism change her mind about their future together?

A secretary named Marcia takes a job at an office and gradually falls head over heels for her boss, Mr. Copeland, nursing her feelings in silence while devotedly serving him through long work nights and the approaching holiday season. When Christmas arrives and he gives her a personal gift, a moment of gratitude leads to a kiss beneath the mistletoe—a moment that feels like a dream come true. But reality has other plans, and what Marcia believed she'd found slips away in an instant.