Love Is the Winner — Gail Everett

It was with a tingle of anticipation that Jean West turned her car into the drive at Green Hills Country Club. The new summer season was about to begin, and she was back for another stint as the club's tennis instructor. The winter away had seen a few tournaments in the South, but Jean was no champion -- teaching was her trade. To her there was nothing like playing on the courts at Green Hills -- and perhaps this year would bring her the potential star every good teacher is always seeking. And Mike Archer, the club's personable golf pro, would already be back at the club. This year, Jean hoped, would be something serious come of her friendship with Mike.

The season was to bring several events important to Jean and to Green Hills. One was the coming of Laine Morgan, the club's new pianist and orchestra leader, whose music is so sweet and affecting as he is cold and cynical. There would be a showdown between Jean and Carter Farrell, the club's supercilious and rigid manager, that would seriously imperil Jean's future. And the turbulent marriage of Drake and Myra Conroy, two of the club's most popular members, would reach a tragic end that would lead Drake, already on the road to alcoholism, dangerously close to ruin -- were it not for the understanding of Jean West and the interest she fosters in an up-and-upcoming tennis player.

Hero: Laine Morgan
Heroine: Jean West