Poor Avery.

The beleaguered Nashville dad, who’s in the middle of a struggle to understand his wife’s postpartum depression, has had few people to lean on since Juliette went into treatment.

Juliette’s assistant, Emily, has become Avery’s go-to babysitter/confidant as he tries to figure out what his future with the country star will look like. The corresponding increase in scenes shared by Jonathan Jackson and Kourtney Hansen, then, led some TVLine readers to theorize that the characters’ relationship was on the verge of turning more-than-platonic.

And it almost did.

The ABC drama thought about an Avery/Emily romance “for a hot minute,” showrunner Dee Johnson confesses to TVLine. “We love Emily.”

Ultimately, though, the show’s Powers That Be decided against pairing the two — however briefly — because Juliette ultimately will return; the “collateral damage” of the hook-up, Johnson says, would’ve led to someone (likely Hansen’s Emily) having to leave town.

Meanwhile, what about that other woman who’ll catch Avery’s eye when the drama returns in March? Should Juliette be worried?

Johnson, who doesn’t want to give away too many details, simply answers: “No.”

Were you in favor of an Avery/Emily romance? Sound off in the comments!