One of the best parts for me this season has been the relationship between Allie and Nathan, and I totally understand where Allie has been coming from.

In watching Allie's interaction with Fiona at Florence and Ned's wedding, I felt like I could see her brain ticking over and this is where it ended up.

Home

Allie wondered who first said "home is where the heart is", and what had made them say it. She had been thinking a lot about what home and family meant lately, and was really struggling with why adults sometimes couldn't seem to see what was right in front of them. I mean, if it was obvious to everyone else, why couldn't they just see it? Why didn't they want to see it?

Her home with her mother was a faint memory, and one she wanted to think of fondly, even if she didn't actually remember much about it at all. More and more it felt like a dream, as her reality was Uncle Nathan, always had been and always would be. He loved her, told bad jokes, took her fishing and riding, and they talked about things. He never made her feel silly when she asked him questions, and they took care of each other.

Before Hope Valley, Allie understood they'd moved around a lot because of Uncle Nathan's job, but hadn't really wanted to, it was just the way things had to be. She was just coming to hope they might be able to actually stay in Hope Valley when Uncle Nathan was offered the inspector job. Allie was very proud and excited for him as he had wanted this promotion for what felt like forever, but when he said they would need to move to Union City, she was shocked. Allie didn't want to leave, she'd made friends loved it here, and had thought Uncle Nathan did too. When he told her he'd turned down the job and they could stay, Allie had never been so relieved in all her life.

There had also been some small tendrils of hope growing within Allie's heart that she might be lucky enough one day, if they could stay in Hope Valley, for a different type of home. It was obvious to Allie that Uncle Nathan and Mrs Thornton liked each other. They were always looking for little reasons to find and talk to each other, and they both seemed to enjoy spending time together. She could see the way Uncle Nathan looked at Mrs Thornton, he talked about her all the time, and it made her happy to see him happy. After Fort Clay, she'd thought he'd never be happy again, and even though he was still not back to the way he was before, she really liked the changes in him.

It had also been a really long time since Allie had had someone to talk to, and whom she felt cared about her the way Mrs Thornton did. Mrs Thornton was like Uncle Nathan in a lot of ways, she didn't let Allie get away with much, but was always forgiving and supporting of her in the best ways possible. From the beginning Mrs Thornton had wanted Allie to have fun and make friends and had even baked cupcakes for her first sleepover. Allie still remembered her putting icing on Uncle Nathan's nose, it had been so funny!

Those tendrils of hope had withered some when Allie noticed Mrs Thornton and Mr Bouchard spending time together too, and it had broken her heart a little when Allie had to tell Uncle Nathan that Mrs Thornton and Mr Bouchard had gone to Union City together. He had seemed so hurt, and things between him and Mrs Thornton seemed difficult for a while, but after the field-trip and windstorm where Uncle Nathan had basically come and rescued them, things settled down again for a while.

Then Uncle Nathan started talking about adopting Allie again, and that was the best news she'd ever heard. She knew Uncle Nathan loved her and she loved him, that wouldn't change, but the adoption felt so permanent, it made her feel like they would always be each other's home. Allie thought it was good timing too, as something had altered again between Uncle Nathan, Mrs Thornton and Mr Bouchard.

All she knew was that Uncle Nathan had come home one day, and Allie could see straight away something was wrong, but he wouldn't talk about it. Allie noticed Uncle Nathan and Mrs Thornton's relationship felt different from then on, and then she'd figured out Mrs Thornton and Mr Bouchard were seeing each other.

Not quite ready to give up on her vision of home, Allie decided to try and make Uncle Nathan and Mrs Thornton see what was crystal clear to her. It didn't really turn out the way she planned, causing many conversations with Uncle Nathan and a confrontation with Mrs Thornton she wasn't particularly proud of, but she was upset. Allie just couldn't understand that if she could see what she had done wrong, then why couldn't Mrs Thornton see how Uncle Nathan, and Allie, felt about her. And why couldn't she feel that way about them too?

Which is why her thoughts seemed to have again circled back to the quote "home is where the heart is". Allie's faith was absolute in the fact that her heart would always be with Uncle Nathan, and she was very safe and secure in the knowledge he was her home. She knew Uncle Nathan loved her too, and they would always have a home together, but she wanted him, wanted them, to have more.

Then Allie had seen Miss Miller at the wedding, and asked her to help her with her hair. Uncle Nathan had tried his best, but she wanted it to look especially nice today. She was surprised when Miss Miller mentioned that Uncle Nathan had made her hair look like a dropper loop, and in talking further, that she also knew about fishing. Allie smiled, remembering that had always really liked Miss Miller, she was nice and a lot of fun. Maybe there was hope yet, as after all, there were a lot of fish in the pond…