Sweethearts #50

Betty Emerson has always been the quiet girl at school, so isolated by her own shyness that she watches from the sidelines as everyone else laughs and makes plans together. When Larry Wilson moves in next door and joins her class, she's certain he'll become part of the popular crowd—until he seeks her out and invites her to try out for the school play, where she discovers a confidence she never knew she had. As Betty steps into the spotlight both on stage and at school, a real connection begins to bloom between her and the boy who saw past her walls.

When Myrna Miles meets her new coworker Jay Clark, she's put off by what she mistakes for a fresh wink—until she realizes he's actually dealing with a cinder in his eye. As Myrna helps guide him to first aid, she finds herself reconsidering her snap judgment of the man she'd dismissed moments before.

A reporter interviewing the town's newly celebrated hero discovers that Cliff Hanson—who heroically rescued a young girl from a deep well—is far more conceited than his selfless act suggests. As Ann pushes back against his boasting, Cliff reveals there's more to his character than meets the eye, and the two find themselves drawn to each other as they talk. What begins as a skeptical assignment becomes something neither of them expected.

When Sue's sister Lorna starts dating Mark Miller, Sue's suspicions run hot—rumors paint him as a serial heartbreaker, and his lingering glances at the restaurant where she works only fuel her mistrust. But when Mark finally confesses his true feelings directly to Sue, her certainty begins to crack, forcing her to reckon with the difference between gossip and the truth standing right in front of her.

A young woman renting a room from an overbearing landlady finds herself caught between the woman's constant matchmaking for her absent son and her own growing feelings for another man. When a discovery at work reveals a troubling truth about the landlord's past, both Leona and her boyfriend must decide how to handle the situation with compassion.