Nathan was starting to come out of a deep sleep when he felt something cold and wet hit him. Nathan groaned.
"Time to get up." A voice said.
Nathan rolled over on his back and opened one of his eyes. It was Elizabeth Thornton.
"Oh no." Nathan groaned.
"Oh, my goodness. Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked seeing his bloodied lip, nose and the shiner on his eye.
"Just dandy." Nathan said.
Elizabeth went over to Nathan and crouched beside him.
"Who did this to you?" Elizabeth asked.
"Why? So, you can thank them?" Nathan said.
Elizabeth tried to stifle her laugh but a smile snuck out.
"Come on. Let's clean you up." Elizabeth said.
Nathan grudgingly agreed. Elizabeth helped him up.
"Looks like someone was drinking their sorrows away. I can smell the alcohol." Elizabeth said.
"Something like that." Nathan grumbled.
Elizabeth held onto Nathan as they walked in the house.
"Go clean your face and I'll look for the first aid kit." Elizabeth said.
Nathan went over to the sink and cleaned his face. After finding the first aid kit, she helped Nathan to a seat at the table.
Elizabeth opened the first aid kit and took out some cotton balls and alcohol. She put the alcohol on the cotton ball.
"This may sting.' Elizabeth said.
She put the cotton ball on his forehead where there was a cut.
Nathan groaned.
"I'm sorry." Elizabeth said.
Nathan watched Elizabeth as she went into the first aid kit to pull out bandages. As he watched her, Nathan couldn't help but be entranced by her. She had soft, kind eyes. And her smile made his heart flutter. Nathan cleared his throat.
"Isn't school in session?" Nathan asked.
"It's Friday. I sometimes give my students half days off on Fridays. Today was one of those days." Elizabeth said.
Nathan couldn't believe he had been passed out for so long.
"And you came straight here?" Nathan asked.
"Allie wasn't in school again." Elizabeth said.
Nathan sighed.
"That doesn't surprise me. We had a fight last night and she ran off to a friend's house." Nathan said.
"What was the fight about?" Elizabeth asked.
"I got angry at her for missing school and then lying to me about it." Nathan said.
"It's been tough for her. The one person she could count on is gone now. She's building up walls so she doesn't get hurt." Elizabeth said. Elizabeth looked down.
"Sometimes, our heart can only take so much." Elizabeth said.
Nathan knew she was talking about her late husband.
"I don't know how to get through to her." Nathan said.
"You need to find common ground and work from there." Elizabeth said.
Nathan nodded.
"Do you know where she goes?" Nathan asked.
"No. But I'm sure you can figure it out. You both are Grant's after all." Elizabeth said.
Nathan smiled.
"Thank you for helping me." Nathan said.
"You're welcome." Elizabeth said. Nathan walked Elizabeth to the door. They said their goodbyes. Nathan walked to his bedroom and changed out of his clothes. As he was putting on his clothes, he thought about where Allie might go. He tried to put himself into Allie's shoes. After thinking about it, he knew where he would look first.
Nathan entered the cemetery. Just as Nathan had suspected, Allie was there. Allie was sitting under a tree which was only a few feet away from her mother's grave. Buttercup was standing next to her.
Nathan walked over to Allie.
"Uncle Nathan?" Allie asked.
"Hi Allie." Nathan said.
"What happened to your face?" Allie asked.
"Just a misunderstanding." Nathan said.
"How did you find me?" Allie asked.
"I thought about where I would go if I were you. I would want to be close to the only person who understood me." Nathan said.
Nathan sat down to Allie.
"Allie, we have to talk." Nathan said.
Allie nodded.
"Mrs. Thornton came by to tell me you skipped school again." Nathan said.
"Are you angry?" Allie asked.
"I'm more confused than angry. You told me how much you enjoy school and learning. But yet you are skipping school. Why?" Nathan asked.
Allie didn't say anything.
"Please Allie, talk to me." Nathan said.
"You wouldn't understand." Allie said.
"Try me." Nathan said.
"We had a fight before she died." Allie said.
"What about?" Nathan asked.
"My favorite author, Laura Ingall Wilder, was going to be in Union City for a book signing. I wanted to go but it would have been too much money. I told her that I was tired of making jam and giving money to the town. I told her that I hated it in Hope Valley and ran off. After school, I was told that my mother was sick and I stayed with Mrs. Thornton. I thought she would get better, but she never did." Allie said.
Tears started to fall down Allie's cheeks.
"She died thinking I hated her." Allie said.
Nathan put his arm around Allie.
"I know how you feel." Nathan said.
"How?" Allie asked.
"I never made amends with your mother. I never got to tell her how sorry I was that my pride got in the way of our relationship. That I let a stupid fight get in the way of having a sister and niece." Nathan said.
Allie cried some more.
"But I know that your mother loved you with all her heart and she knew that you didn't hate her." Nathan said.
"How do you know?" Allie asked.
"That was just the type of person your mother was. She loved everyone even if they hurt her." Nathan said.
"I miss her so much." Allie said. Allie cried into Nathan and Nathan just held her. He just let her cry until she soothed herself.
"I'm sorry that I said those things to you yesterday. I don't hate you." Allie said.
"I know. You were angry. I was angry. I'm still trying to figure all of this out. But I'll need your help." Nathan said.
"How?" Allie asked.
"First, back to school." Nathan said.
Allie nodded.
"Next, you can never run off like that again. If your friend had not come over to pick up some of your things, I would have been looking for you all night." Nathan said.
Allie nodded.
"Finally, I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything." Nathan said.
Allie nodded.
"I love you, Allie." Nathan said.
Allie hugged Nathan.
"I love you too, Uncle Nathan." Allie said.
"Shall we go back home?" Nathan said.
Allie nodded.
Allie went over to buttercup and mounted her.
"Maybe we can go fishing this weekend?" Allie asked.
"That sounds like fun." Nathan said.
"But maybe we shouldn't, since your face might scare off the fish." Allie teased.
"Very funny." Nathan said.
That night, after Allie went to bed, Nathan started to go through some of Colleen's things that were in her closet. Nathan came across of box. He went over to the box and opened it. There were pictures inside. Some from her wedding. Some from when Allie was little. As he looked through the photographs, he came upon one that made him stop. It was a picture of Colleen and Nathan at Nathan's college graduation. They were smiling at each other. Nathan looked at the photograph closer and noticed that he was wearing the cufflinks that she had given him. A lump started growing in Nathan's throat. He tried to push his feelings down but had no successful. Nathan started sobbing.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Colleen." Nathan said to the photograph through sobs.
"I miss you so much." Nathan cried.
After his crying had subsided, he looked up.
"I promise to take care of your little girl." Nathan said.