Free Ellie's Advice (sweet romance) by Alice M. Roelke Page A

Ellie.
    They also talk ed about the advice column, although she didn't travel down to the office much lately. He usually brought new letters with him when he visited, and they talked over which ones she ought to answer, along with the contents of the letters themselves, if they were interesting enough.
    S he felt as if she could talk to Shel forever and not grow bored. Sometimes he spoke about his work, and they discussed everything from art and literature to nature and music. He introduced her to jazz. She introduced him to chamber music.
    They often walked along in the park with the puppies on leads, waiting for them to sniff and investigate every sight and smell within range as the humans talked. And talked. Shel was a quiet-spoken man, but he had a great depth of wisdom and many interesting thoughts in his handsome head. She loved drawing him out, or just waiting till he spoke and listening to him with her whole heart.
    Ellie felt herself blooming as mightily as the trees in the park, which had long since unfurled their leaves and spread the green banners to the sky to soak up sunlight. Oh, outwardly she looked much the same, except that her clothes were rattier. The puppies chewed little holes in absolutely everything, and many of her dresses and shoes had taken damage.
    She did n't dress any differently otherwise or change her hairstyle; she'd already been fairly well-versed in the current style, from her aunt's strict training to always look her best, and had kept up with it whether she was interested or not. But inwardly, oh inwardly, she felt like a woman for the first time in her life. Not someone's niece or sister, not an invalid to be pitied and protected but never treated as an adult. No, she was a real woman, talking to Shel, walking with him, taking care of the pups with him, and even going out to see the occasional movie together.
    On tho se nights, she paid Mrs. Fine or a young woman from the neighborhood to stay home with the pups. She thought they were too young to be left alone, even for a few hours. Although, as fond as she was growing of the little creatures, she was beginning to think she would always feel protective of them, even when they reached their adult size.
    The pups were black with short fur and floppy ears, brown noses, big pretty baby gazes, and very vigilant tails. They were learning about the world by leaps and bounds and investigating all of it with their teeth.
    Neither she nor Shel were very good at disciplining them, but Shel had bought a book that said they were a bit young to learn much anyway. She didn't know about that — they had certainly learned how to destroy a great deal of flour and raisins in the cupboard one day when the door was left open by accident — but she certainly agreed they couldn't punish them much at that age. Nor, to be honest, did she ever wish to.
    A horror of ending up with adult monsters kept her thinking about the matter, though, wondering when it would be appropriate to curtail their wild behavior. For now, teething pups who were on solid food but still liked milk, and weren't yet housetrained, were allowed to do nearly always exactly as they wished. Especially when what they wished involved sleeping on her feet, like furry little hot water bottles, flopping around her ankles absolutely exhausted from their mischief.
    With her visits from Shel, her teething puppies, and her chewed-upon shoes, Ellie had never been so happy.
    Now, she hurried over and around the pups, anxious not to trip on them, but in a hurry to get to the door. It might be Shel! Sometimes, he came over twice in one day. Always there would be a reason — another few letters arrived for her to pick from for the column, or he'd gotten a few bits of meat at a good price for the pups, or some other tempting, necessary offer.
    They had not spoken of love or marriage once. But every time she saw him, her heart fluttered wildly. Sometimes he arrived neatly pressed, looking shockingly well