Youthful Romances #5

Judy's engagement to boxer Jock Caffrey turns to heartbreak when she overhears his manager Mike Grady arranging a fix—Jock is supposed to throw his championship fight for money. Convinced that a man capable of such treachery would betray her just as easily, Judy breaks things off despite her lingering love, and must wrestle with her conscience as fight night approaches. With inks by Walter Johnson, "Count Love Out!" explores whether a woman can forgive the man she loves when his actions prove he's not the person she believed him to be.

Anne thought she knew Walt Carter's heart—a year of romance, stolen kisses, and promises seemed certain—until she discovered a canceled check made out to someone named Eloise Carter, and Walt's refusal to explain. Following him to a suburban house one desperate afternoon, Anne watches through a window as Walt embraces a beautiful woman, and all her doubts crystallize into bitter certainty. Now Walt demands she listen to his side of the story, but can he bridge the gap between what Anne saw and the truth she's desperate to believe?

A young stenographer embarks on a luxury Mediterranean cruise hoping to escape her ordinary life, only to meet Rick Parsons at her dinner table—a charming stranger who pursues her despite her resistance to shipboard romance. As the voyage progresses, Lisa finds herself falling for him, but a chance encounter in Majorca forces her to confront the deception she's been living: she's been letting him believe she belongs to his wealthy social circle when she's really just a forty-dollar-a-week office worker. By the time the ship docks and Lisa resolves to finally tell him the truth, she discovers that Rick has already left—leaving only the expensive vases he bought her and a note that changes everything.