Nurse Kilmer's Vow — Virginia C. Holmgren

When lovely young Terry Kilmer was left at the altar by her husband-to-be, Dr. Alex Blaine, her life seemed shattered forever. Blinded by anger, she refused to listen to Alex's explanations. Though she was a dedicated nurse, Terry vowed she would have nothing more to do with the world of medicine. Accepting an invitation to the island estate of her much divorced Aunt Cele, Terry plunged into a dizzying, dazzling social whirl. There were parties and yacht trips, gaiety and laughter -- and above all, an irresistibly charming young playboy named Hal Symmes. Then disaster struck the island community -- and suddenly Terry was a nurse again, working at the side of a brilliant doctor, her heart torn by a choice between two ways of life, two ways of love. And, amid the greatest challenge of her life, Terry found her path to happiness.

Terry Kilmer had heard of brides being “left waiting at the church,” but had never dreamed that it would happen to her. But when, on his wedding day, the young doctor to whom she had promised her future was called in to assist at a kidney transplant, Alex Blaine -- doctor first, man second, forgot Terry, forgot his wedding, forgot everything except being part of an operation that was more exciting, more challenging than anything else in the world.

A disillusioned Terry resolved to marry the first eligible man, not a doctor, who presented himself. It was pure luck that Terry's much-divorced Aunt Cele, who had just leased an island in Puget Sound, should invite Terry to visit her. Aunt Cele had already nabbed Evart Symmes , the most eligible man around… Symmes' nephew, Hal seemed more playboy than anything else. Still, there was more to Hal than met the eye.

Before she could make up her mind about Hal, Terry was involved in an accident that brought her to Seavale Hospital and its dedicated Dr. Earl Caldwell -- and back to the nursing career she loved.

It was chance -- and nothing else -- that took Terry to the island where Alex Blaine was fighting an outbreak of infectious hepatitis. Terry, who brought the precious gamma globulin that Alex needed, couldn't tell whether Alex still loved her or not. She could only go back to Seavale Hospital -- and wait. This time, if Alex came, she could be content to take second place in his life.

Hero: Hal Symmes
Heroine: Nurse Terry Kilmer