Nathan was officially concerned. It had been over a week since Allie's fateful ride out to the ridge. And while her ankle was mostly back to normal and her arm was healing nicely, Allie had avoided her friends entirely since that morning in the schoolhouse. While Allie might be physically recovering, Nathan had a feeling that her heart hadn't quite healed yet.

"Are you sure you don't want to try to talk to them?" Nathan asked, finally breaking the silence in the Mountie office. All week, Allie had been coming to eat lunch with him and while Nathan was grateful for the extra time with his daughter, he knew she had an ulterior motive. "Not that I don't enjoy eating lunch with you," he hurried to add, when his daughter gave him a look. "But they're your friends, Allie. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding."

"How could I have misunderstood?" Allie questioned, her tone full of pent-up hurt. "I heard them loud and clear. They were hanging out without me." Allie sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. "If anyone should be the one to break the silence, it should be them," Allie huffed. "They're the ones who messed up."

Nathan didn't say anything in reply. He knew what Allie was going through. It hurt to feel excluded and like you were the second choice. Boy, did he sure have experience with that. But Nathan also knew how easy it was to misunderstand something when you didn't have the whole story. Right now, though, Allie was hurting. Nathan wished that he could somehow fix everything for her. But that wasn't up to him.

That Friday, Nathan went to go see Elizabeth after school. The schoolhouse was empty when he walked in and Elizabeth was standing at the front dusting off the chalkboard. At the sound of his footsteps, she turned around.

"Hey, you," she said, her smile soft as she set down the eraser. Nathan didn't say anything as he walked closer. Elizabeth met him at the front of her desk and looked up at him expectantly.

"Hey beautiful," he finally whispered. He bent down and just rested his forehead against hers for a moment. He stared into Elizabeth's blue, blue eyes, trying to tell her how much he loved her without saying a word. After a minute, Nathan dipped his head and kissed her tenderly on the lips. "How was your day?" he asked, once he pulled back. He grabbed one of Elizabeth's hands in his and swung it lightly between them.

"It was good," she replied. "Everyone finished their book reports today. But, I've been most looking forward to seeing you." At this, Nathan smiled.

"Me too," he said, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Did you see Allie on your way here?" Elizabeth asked, though her expression was now hesitant. Nathan couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"I did," he said. "She went straight home." Hearing this, Elizabeth's shoulders dropped. "She doesn't want to try to talk to her friends at all," Nathan continued with a frown.

"She doesn't want me to talk to them either," Elizabeth added. "When I offered, she told me that it would just make everything worse."

"I know she's hurt," Nathan said, his heart dropping. "But she probably doesn't know the full story, plus tomorrow-"

"I know," Elizabeth finished for him. "What are we going to do?" Nathan opened his mouth to respond, but right then, there was a sound at the door of the schoolhouse.

"Mrs. Thornton?" Both Nathan and Elizabeth turned simultaneously and were surprised to see Opal, Emily, and Angela standing in the doorway. Even as the girls watched them, Nathan didn't drop Elizabeth's hand. In fact, he held on just a little bit tighter. Elizabeth's heart lifted.

"Hi girls," Elizabeth answered, turning her attention to her students. "Did you forget something?" At this, all three girls glanced at each other and hesitated.

"No," Emily finally said, but then she stopped and averted her eyes.

"We wanted to talk to you about something," Angela blurted out and then, she bit her lip. Nathan and Elizabeth shared a glance.

"I'll leave you four to talk," Nathan said after a second and then he dropped Elizabeth's hand.

"Actually, Mountie Grant," Opal interrupted, before Nathan could take more than two steps. "You should stay."

"It's about Allie," Angela supplied, probably sensing the adult's confusion.

"Oh." Again, Nathan glanced at Elizabeth, his eyes both concerned and slightly lost.

"Why don't you take a seat, girls?" Elizabeth offered, taking charge. As Emily, Angela, and Opal took seats in the front row, Elizabeth grabbed the chair from behind her desk and brought it to the front. Nathan just leaned back against Elizabeth's desk and tried to look casual, but the fact that he was still wearing his Mountie uniform made that nearly impossible. Elizabeth waited, but no one spoke. The three girls just sat there nervously and averted their eyes, as if none of them knew where to look.

"Alright girls," Elizabeth finally prodded. "What is this about?"

"Is Allie mad at us?" Angela broke the silence. The words burst from her mouth as if she was unable to keep them in. Elizabeth's eyebrows rose in shock. Angela was usually the most level-headed girl in class. Elizabeth had never seen the teenager so distraught before.

"Do you have any reason to think that she would be mad at you?" Elizabeth replied, trying to coax the truth out of them.

"Angela thinks that Allie might have overheard us talking about something," Emily explained.

"Something that she wasn't supposed to hear," Opal added, jumping into the conversation.

"And what was that?" At their teacher's question, all three girls looked away simultaneously.

"That we were hanging out without her," Emily finally admitted, her gaze staying glued to her hands which she was twisting anxiously in her lap. Elizabeth heard the breath woosh out of Nathan. So it is true.

"But we didn't mean it like that!" Angela burst out again. Elizabeth thought the girl looked close to tears now.

"What do you mean, Angela?" Elizabeth asked gently.

"We weren't trying to exclude her. Honest," Angela insisted. "We were planning a surprise for her-"

"But we didn't want her to know of course, since it's a surprise," Emily put in.

"We didn't hear her come into the schoolhouse that morning," Opal continued, taking over the story. "Or we never would have been talking about it."

"And I've been trying to explain it to her all week," Angela added, talking so fast that Elizabeth found it hard to keep up. "But she's been avoiding me." Now, Angela was the one who glanced down at her lap. "I haven't even been able to ask her how she's feeling after she broke her arm."

"We know we messed up," Opal said, when Angela finished talking. "Even though we didn't mean to, we know we hurt Allie."

"But we don't know how to make it up to her." Emily sighed and her shoulders dropped.

"And now it's too late," Angela said, her voice heavy with regret. The meaning of Angela's word's dawned on Elizabeth and Nathan at the same time. They turned and looked at each other with wide eyes, both thinking the same thing, but it was Elizabeth who spoke the words out loud.

"Because tomorrow is Allie's birthday."

It was Allie's birthday, but it certainly didn't feel like it. Sleep evaded her and she woke up just as the sun was starting to rise. For several minutes, Allie just stared at her ceiling. She was miserable. That was obvious to anyone. Even Scout had picked up on her mood and had been sleeping at the foot of her bed all week. Allie propped up on one elbow glanced down the length of the bed. Yep, he was still there, sleeping soundly as always.

"You don't know how good you've got it, Scout," Allie whispered, but the dog only let out a low snore in reply. Allie snorted. Thanks for the help, she thought sarcastically. Allie flopped back down and stared up at the ceiling in the morning light.

Will this ever end? she wondered. Allie honestly wasn't sure. She wanted her friends back, really she did, but they were the ones who had hurt her. Wasn't it reasonable to assume that they should be the ones to mend fences first?

Letting out a sigh, Allie sat up in bed again. There was no way she was going to fall back asleep, so she might as well enjoy her birthday sunrise. Allie pulled back her curtains and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders as she sat on the bed and watched the sun peek out from behind the horizon. The clouds turned orange, pink, and then finally, a rare purple. Allie started to smile, but then her face fell as she remembered the last time she had seen a purple sunrise. It had been on a camping trip, almost two years ago. The one she and her dad had taken with Angela and Mr. Canfield. The girls had gotten up early and snuck out of their tent to catch the sunrise, trying to stifle their giggles at their slight rebellion. They'd huddled under a blanket together and Allie had described the sunrise to Angela while the colors had danced across the sky, almost as if it had been painted just for them.

Allie felt a tear trickle down her cheek as she watched the sunset out her window. It looked so similar that if Allie hadn't known any better, she would have thought she was stuck in a dream.

Allie closed her eyes as she leaned her head against the window frame. I miss you, Angela, she whispered to herself, as if her mind could transmit the thought down the street to her best friend. Opening her eyes again, Allie let the tears fall. She didn't try to stop them. There was no use at this point.

As the sky brightened and the oranges and purples faded to blue, Allie knew one thing for sure. She only had one birthday wish this year. I just want my friends back.

Angela lay awake in bed, not stirring, just thinking. Her thoughts couldn't help drifting to Allie. How did I mess things up so badly? she thought. Angela had never meant for things to get so out of hand. She should have talked to Allie as soon as it had happened. Maybe then, things would be back to normal by now.

Angela could hear her mom and dad quietly making breakfast down in the kitchen. She could smell her dad's fresh pot of coffee and her mom's oatmeal on the stove. Footsteps sounded in the hallway outside her room, quiet at first and then louder as they got closer. Angela counted to four and then exactly on cue, her door clicked open.

"Angela?" Cooper's voice floated inside. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," Angela answered, after a second.

"You gotta get up," Cooper told her. "We have to leave soon if we want everything to be ready on time."

"I know." Angela let out a soft sigh as she threw back the blankets. "I'll be down in a minute, OK?"

"OK. Don't take too long." And then with that, the door clicked closed again. Angela sat at the edge of the bed for a second, her mind going back to the conversation she, Opal, and Emily had had with Mrs. Thornton and Mountie Grant yesterday. Neither adult had seemed surprised at what the girls had to say, but luckily, Mrs. Thornton had come up with a plan. Angela just prayed more than anything that it would work. I need my best friend back. And with that thought, Angela got out of bed and started getting ready. This had to work. It just had to.

As soon as she opened her bedroom door, the unmistakable smell of fresh, homemade pancakes wafted up the stairs. Allie smiled for the first time that morning. Leave it to her dad to keep up their age-old birthday tradition even though she was now sixteen. Wow, Allie thought to herself. Sixteen. That's going to take some getting used to.

Nathan was already downstairs when Allie got there, his back to her as he stood at the stove. For a second, Allie just stayed on the last step and silently watched her father. My father, she thought, a half smile lifting her lips. He might be her uncle by DNA, but Nathan had been Allie's dad ever since the day Coleen had passed. Allie knew that while other people in her life may come and go, her dad was here to stay. He'd proven that time and time again.

"Hey Dad," Allie said quietly, her voice chasing away the silence in the kitchen. Nathan turned and his face immediately lit up.

"Hey Al!" he said and his long legs took him across the room in two strides. He bent down and gave her a gentle hug, still being careful of her broken arm. "Happy birthday, kiddo." Allie hugged him back.

"Thanks, Dad."

"I can't believe my baby girl is sixteen," Nathan said as he kissed the top of Allie's head. Allie smiled at her dad's term of endearment for her. "Actually." Then, Nathan pulled back and placed his hands on his daughter's shoulders. "I think I can believe it." Nathan smiled.

"You've grown up into a wonderful young lady, Allie. Your mom would be so proud of you." At his words, Allie blink rapidly as tears unexpectedly welled up in her eyes.

"Thanks, Dad," she told him and then leaned forward to give him another one-armed hug.

"Now," Nathan said, pulling back and rubbing his hands together. "How do some birthday pancakes sound?" Allie looked up at him and grinned.

"That sounds perfect." And then the two of them walked back towards the kitchen together. Maybe this day might not be so bad after all.

After breakfast, Allie opened her presents from Nathan, which were a new journal with her initials engraved on the cover and a new Jane Austen book. Allie was once again glad that she was right handed. It would have been hard if she'd broken her dominant arm. At least she was still able to write and open things, even if it was more difficult than normal.

"Do you want to head to the cafe for lunch later?" Nathan asked, after they had cleared the table and washed the dishes.

"Uh, I don't know," Allie muttered, her gaze going to the ground. If she went to the cafe, it was possible that she might see Angela. Allie wasn't sure if she was up for that today.

"Mrs. Thornton told me that she and Little Jack would love to meet us there if you wanted to go," Nathan added, when his daughter still hesitated.

"Oh." Now, Allie looked up. If Jack and Mrs. Thornton were there, it was much less likely that any of her friends would come up to her. "That sounds nice actually."

"Great." Nathan smiled. "I'll call Mrs. Thornton and let her know. We could meet her and Jack there a little after noon. Does that work?"

"Sounds great, Dad!" And then Allie rushed up the stairs with her gifts while Nathan placed the call to Mrs. Thornton. When she came back downstairs, Nathan was sitting on the couch with his book and Allie joined him, holding her new Austen novel. The two of them read side by side for the rest of the morning, just enjoying each other's company until Allie went back up to her room to change into the new blue dress that her grandparents had sent a few days ago.

"Hey Dad?" Allie called down the stairs a few minutes later. Nathan appeared after a few seconds. "Can you help me with my hair?" Allie asked.

"Sure." Nathan climbed the stairs and followed Allie back into her room. Allie handed him the brush and Nathan started gently running it through her hair. Even though Allie had been able to manage doing most things with one arm in a sling, braiding her hair wasn't one of them. Luckily, Allie just wore her hair straight most days. Plus, her dad had done her hair enough when she was little that he could handle a simple braid. And, Allie liked getting to spend a little extra time with her dad in the mornings.

"There you go," Nathan said a few minutes later as he tied the end of the braid with a blue ribbon that matched Allie's dress.

"Thanks, Dad," Allie replied, smiling up at him as she laid the braid over her right shoulder and set the brush back on the dresser.

"You ready to go?"

"Yep! Hey, we kind of match," Allie pointed out, as the two of them made their way down the stairs. Nathan was wearing a blue shirt that was only a shade lighter than Allie's dress.

"I guess we do, Birthday Girl," Nathan agreed, putting an arm around his daughter's shoulders as he steered her towards the door. Nathan helped Allie into her coat before shrugging on his own and escorting Allie out the door. They didn't talk much on the way, but as they walked into town, Allie glanced up at Nathan and smiled.

"This was a good idea," she said. Nathan looked down at his daughter and grinned as they climbed the steps to the cafe.

"Happy Birthday, Allie," he replied and then he opened the door for her. But nothing could have prepared Allie for what was waiting for her on the other side.