Chapter 4 - Honesty Above All

"I think you're overreacting, Uncle Nathan."

Allie had a hand gripped firmly around one of the bars of the jail cell and she swung back and forth lazily from it. It was one of her habits that Nathan still struggled to get used to. The motion, combined with Allie's disarming expression, made him want to give in to his niece every time. But, he couldn't give in. Not this time.

"I think you're under-reacting," he replied. "Allie, I woke up to an empty house and a piece of paper that can hardly be considered a note. There's a long time between now and lunch. You can't just go into town whenever you want. There are so many places that you could be. You need to at least tell me where you're going. Specifically."

Allie rolled her eyes. "If I told you, you wouldn't let me go."

He shot her a triumphant smile. "Exactly. It's no secret that you and Robert are practically glued to the hip. Besides that, if something happened to you, how would I know? Now, come over here, sit down, and tell me why sneaking into town before daybreak is out of the question." He nodded to a chair beside his desk.

Reluctantly, Allie agreed and plopped down in the chair.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Nathan. But, it's the truth. You never let me go anywhere on my own. I don't want to be stuck around the house all day."

"You won't be stuck around the house all day," Nathan replied. "There's school. I think that's enough for a change of scenery."

"Yes, during the week days. But, then I have to come straight home after school," Allie lamented. "I can't even explore a little bit after that!"

Nathan had to keep himself from smirking at her argument. "You think that any other parent in Hope Valley would let you go all over the place without supervision? Allie, believe it or not, I worry about you. It's not just that I'm officially your parent now. I'm also looking out for your safety. With all the people coming through the area, who knows what kind of person you'll come across? Not all of the people who come through here are nice people. Just ask Clara and Jesse. The Mountie Police gave me this jail cell for a reason - and it's not just so that you can swing around on it."

Allie looked deflated, but it was clear that she accepted her uncle's reasoning.

"You understand, right?" Nathan pressed further. "I'm only being so hard on you because I love you. I want to see you safe. That means letting me know where you're going to be." He handed her the folded note she left for him, and a reluctant smile tugged at one side of Allie's mouth. She flipped the note open and scanned the text.

As she did so, Nathan reached out and tapped the note with a grin.

"Do you call that a detailed note? What if I left you a note that said, 'Dinner will be sometime!'"

This got a laugh out of Allie and she waved the note at him, tapping the end of it against his arm playfully.

"I guess that's pretty vague," she said through her laugh.

"Exactly. I think if we look at things through each other's perspectives, we'll be better off. Think of how well we're getting along and multiply that by...what do you think? Three?"

Allie shot him a look. "Uncle Nathan, only three? Come on!"

There was more laughter. It was a welcome reprieve from the serious start of their conversation.

As they shared some much-needed levity, Nathan couldn't help but be reminded that these days it seemed like, for all her trouble-making, Allie was the only person in the town who truly made him laugh. It wasn't just a surface laugh, either. Not just for show. The laughter that she brought him was the kind that filled his belly and caused it to ache.

That was the kind of pain that he needed. It drowned out the hurt that he harbored in his very soul after being rejected by Elizabeth Thornton.

The words played over and over in his mind, sometimes when he didn't even mean to think about them.

I love you...but I'm not in love with you.

He shook his head, continuing the laughter, though it was forced towards the end. He was getting good at things like that - covering up the way he was really feeling with a false front. It wasn't hard. Most people already assumed that he was always brooding just by the way he looked as he patrolled the town. He didn't have the heart to tell them that when he set out to do a task, it was like tunnel vision. He couldn't rest until he saw the mission through to completion.

Nathan supposed that was why the rejection of Elizabeth's affections hit him so hard. It had been years of warming up to the idea of telling her how he felt about her. Such long-term situations didn't really have a place in his life. The longest relationship he ever had was watching over his niece, and he was thankful that Allie hadn't truly tried to run away. That was progress.

"Alright," he said, coming back to reality. "Alright. Maybe three is a low number. I think I can push it to four, if you're lucky."

Allie's smile was infectious. "You better be lucky," she said. "I think this one time of sneaking out is nothing compared to all the times that you go riding off without warning."

"Hey, that's different. It's my job to go venturing off. I never know when something's going to come up. When they call me, I have to go."

"I know, I know." Allie got up out of her chair and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him as she sighed. "I'm sorry that I went out before you were awake. I won't do it again. But, can you at least give me a little bit of freedom once in a while?"

He looked down at her as she pulled away, winking.

"We'll see. It's on a case by case basis - especially if Robert is around!"

Allie's cheeks reddened.

"Uncle Nathan, we were just talking."

"Were you?"

She nodded fervently. "Of course! He may have held my hand for a moment -"

"What? Allie! That's it. No freedom for you."

"Uncle Nathan - I'm just kidding!" She returned to the bars of the jail cell and leaned against them. "Really, though. We only talked. I really like talking to Robert, and I think he likes talking to me."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "That's good. Talking is the best way to get to know someone, especially someone that you like-like."

"I think so," Allie agreed. "Now that Robert is graduated and doing a job, I don't get to talk to him as much as I would like."

Nathan heard her loud and clear. Allie was usually up front, but occasionally, when she didn't get the answers she wanted, she hid her questions inside statements. It always tugged at his heart.

"Maybe we'll have Robert over for dinner sometime," he said, giving in at last. This got the expected reaction out of Allie, and she rushed forward to hug him once more.

"Uncle Nathan! Thank-you! It will be so much fun!"

"I didn't say that he would be over tonight -"

"But, soon," she agreed. "That gives me time to plan." She balled her hands up into fists and jumped up and down a few times in rapid succession. "Alright. I have to go to the store and see what kind of things we could cook!" She went to race out the door and skidded to a halt. "Is that alright?"

He closed his eyes, knowing that she had truly taken what he said to heart, and nodded.

"Yes, you may go. Just check back here when you're done."

"Yay! This is so exciting!"

She was out the door in a flash, and Nathan felt his heart lift a bit at seeing his niece so happy.

At least one of us is happy, he thought. That's something.

He went over to the door to make sure that it was completely latched when a stage coach came crunching down the roadway, drawn by two brilliant white horses. Nathan paused at the door, watching the stage come to a stop at the boardwalk.

At first he thought that perhaps it was Carson returning after a change of heart. He would be the most likely candidate to be arriving by stage. Yet, the person who stepped out of the coach wasn't Carson at all. The person wasn't even a man.

A woman dressed in what appeared to be a perfectly tailored pant suit turned on the boardwalk. Her pale brown hair was collected at the back of her head, and above it all was a broad-rimmed hat to shield her eyes from the sun.

Nathan had to admit that he was stunned by her immediate presence. Nobody in Hope Valley dressed so modern. Nathan's eyes were drawn to her immediately.

Who was this woman, and what brought someone as polished as her to a little town like Hope Valley?

Before Nathan could ponder any further, the woman spotted something down the roadway and set off determinedly on a mission known only to her.