Jeff and Laurie’s relationship was strained as she studied hard while Jeff played. When Jeff missed a date, Laurie found him kissing another girl. Jeff became violent when confronted and attacked Laurie, tripping and becoming paralyzed when he hit his head on the floor. Guiltridden, Laurie visited Jeff’s recuperation, but while there she was drawn closer to Jeff’s brother Steve. When Jeff discovered their romance, he flew into another rage that ultimately killed him. Six months later, Steve and Laurie had married and realized that through Jeff they had found true love.
May was beautiful and worried that men loved that alone. After months of dating, May kept Ted at arms length and had not even let him kiss her. But Ted was in love and while at the beach he proposed. Again, May cut him off and he stormed away. Realizing she may have lost her true love, May invited Ted to a romantic dinner. Afterwards she kissed him and said, "Well...are you going to ask?" Ted was bewildered since she had rebuked him so often. He then told her he was in love with her as she was and left again. But May followed him realizing she loved him, too, and didn't care why.
Holly Talbert’s mother had been in prison for years. When her mother died, Holly got a new start at nursing school. In the clinic, she nursed accident patient Tony Decker back to health. Tony asked her out and eventually took Holly to meet his parents. Tony’s mother knew of Holly’s past, so Tony broke up with Holly. One night, Tony was in her dorm room, bloodied after a shooting when a prank turned deadly. Holly called the police, against Tony’s wishes. In court, Tony received a suspended sentence, told Holly he now understood her situation, and they walked out of the courtroom arm-in-arm.
Pamela worked in a coal mine office, but continued to study in an attempt to get out of Coaltown. One night, she recognized a magazine article’s author, Jim Franklin, as a boy in her class. She wrote him at the magazine, and to her surprise, he replied. For months, they had a romance by letter. They then vacationed in New York and she hoped Jim would ask her to stay, but he simply took her to the train. Disappointed, she was surprised at work when Jim was outside. She realized he was one of the miners! Jim told Pamela how much he loved her and proposed, and she kissed him boldly and accepted.