A Wish for Celia — Erika Massey

She had fallen in love once -- and lost. She wouldn't be fool enough to let that happen again.

A Lesson for the Teacher

As she bicycles down the street of her home town, Celia Meade wonders why, now that she has her teaching certificate, she no longer feels any excitement, why the contract she's been offered to teach grade school seems more of a trap than an achievement. At home, she finds a letter from her married sister, Aline, with an invitation to visit San Francisco and sees a way out of the trap -- temporarily, anyway. In San Francisco, she meets attractive Wayne Jerome who takes her on a magic-moonlight tour of the city and leaves her with stars in her eyes. And she meets idealistic Kurt Ashton who, with his aunt, runs Wishing Well School -- a school dedicated to showing “backward,” unwanted, unhappy children how to lead normal lives. Little Rosie, Billy…Celia falls in love with them all and joins the teaching staff. But it's the children who teach the teacher the true meaning of love after Celia believes it has betrayed her…

Original Title: A Penny For the Wishing Well