"Hi, I'm Whitney, and I'll be your tour guide."

Warm air hit Sean with relief after shutting the main door behind him. With a glance, he noticed a large closet to his right, and to the left was a wooden staircase with open stairs leading to an upper floor. A few steps past the closet looked like a hallway running down the cabin's west side. Around the corner from the closet, the first door was open and seemed to be a small bathroom. Directly in front was a fantastic main room. The west side had a majestic stone fireplace that ran up to the cathedral ceiling. A large flat-screen television was situated on the near side of the fireplace; the far side had a desk and bookshelf. In front of the fireplace, in a semi-circle, were three large couches. A gigantic, decorated Christmas tree was behind the middle couch. At the back of the room were two sliding glass doors that opened out onto a large deck with a view overlooking Wasp Lake. The rear east side of the room, where the wall jutted in about ten feet, had a small circular table with leather armchairs on each side.

The open layout continued to the east side, where the rest of the new arrivals stood, taking in the dining area. There was a long, rectangular wood table that had seating for twelve people. Another sliding glass door that opened to the deck stood behind. Opposite the glass door and table was the open-design kitchen. It featured high-end stainless steel appliances all around. Sitting in the middle of the room, an island counter ran almost the room's length, stopping only for the sink on the north side of the room and a large bay window that looked out over the front drive. The island featured a stovetop for cooking, along with four stools for additional seating.

"...and out here is the sunroom," Whitney continued as she gave the cabin tour and opened a door on the east wall between the kitchen and dining area.

Before joining the others, Newt asked quietly, "How's your eye?"

"Fine. I'm more embarrassed than anything. Getting hurt by a dumb scarf is a great way to make an impression on Ramsey," he said disappointedly.

The sunroom had three sides composed almost entirely of windows and a glass door that opened onto the large deck. Just outside the door on the deck appeared to be a flight of stairs heading down to the ground. A small wood stove was on the wall shared with the cabin, and a small fire currently smoldered inside. Spread out across the room were several plush chairs and couches.

"Nobody will be sleeping out here, so don't worry. Still, it's nice enough with the stove to hang out here, even during the winter. Let's go back inside, and I'll start showing you your bedrooms," the young hostess explained while she moved her arms in a corralling manner.

"I have a question. Where's your father?" chuckled Clive Stratton.

"Oh, Dad's outside, still finishing up moving firewood. He's really concerned about all the small details for some reason. I mean, look at that tree and all the Christmas decorations! I was shocked when we got here a few days ago and saw all the stuff he bought. He even swore he bought them all by himself; no assistant did it. It took us a good two days to get everything set up, but it made for such a beautiful holiday."

By this time, the group had again reached the area where the main room met the entryway. Whitney then pointed down the west side hallway Sean had noticed earlier.

"Okay, down that hall next to the bathroom is the den, and across from it, behind the fireplace, is the master bedroom suite. So what I'm thinking is that us girls will all share that. The king-size bed should be plenty of room for Ram, Lace, and I." Lacey and Ramsey looked at each other with a shrug. "There's a foldout couch in the sitting area of the room. Once Lana and Peyton arrive, we can rotate between the two. It might be a tight fit, but we have our own bathroom. It's a large one, girls!" Whitney laughed before she turned and looked upwards.

"Now upstairs, there are two bedrooms, one at each end. They each have their own bathrooms too." Everyone looked up at the open second-floor walkway separated from below by a long wooden railway with spindles. Well, everyone but Sean, who had lost himself in a daydream while staring at Ramsey. "Dad thought that Mr. and Mrs. Stratton could take the west room, above the master bedroom, while Mr. and Mrs. Tarver can take the east room when they arrive. That sound okay?" she asked with murmurs of agreement in return, as Sean was jolted from his fantasy by hearing talk of his parents.

Whitney then headed over to the stairs leading down to the walk-out level. They were directly below the stairs leading to the second floor. Once they arrived on the lower level, Sean noticed how the layout seemed similar to the first floor. There was a large recreation room about the same size as the main room upstairs. It featured two sliding glass doors that opened onto a patio under the deck. A large stone fireplace was once again on the west side. Across from it was a pool table. Next to the fireplace, nearest to the staircase, was a television. Two large couches in a wide V formation were seated before the TV, and a small armchair was between them, with a coffee table in front. On the east side of the room was a large custom bar with five bar stools in front. Back behind the bar were a refrigerator and a small microwave. Finishing off the area in the back corner past the bar was a table designed for card playing. There was also a large bathroom off to the side of the stairway.

Unlike the first floor, two hallways branched off near the rec room's entrance. Whitney led them first to the east hallway.

"Alright, down on this side, we have the larger bedroom with a queen-size bed. It also has a small attached bathroom," she said, opening a door on the south side of the hall. "I'm thinking Mr. Singer and his guest can stay in here." She then spun on her heels and pointed out the laundry room door on the north side of the hall in case anyone would need to use it during their stay.

Whitney then continued by marching down the hall, past the rec room, and down to the west hallway. Sean had to give Newt a soft elbow when he noticed the other teen's eyes fixated on her swaying backside. With no friend to help, Austin had Lacey's glare warn him to avert his eyes away from the delightful sight. Once past the bathroom, Whitney stopped and opened the door, showing off a small room. Inside was just a twin-sized bed and a tiny dresser.

"This is what the architect called a hobby room. The problem is that Dad has way too many hobbies and can't decide which one to bring up here from the manor. So, for now, it's just a spare room. He might end up sleeping in here this week or upstairs in the den." She pointed out the other guest room with a gesture over her shoulder to the south side of the hall. "Mr. and Mrs. Lockett can have that bedroom when they get here. The problem with these rooms is that they don't have their own bathroom. So the people down here on the west side have to share that one bathroom." Pointing toward a door on the west side wall that directly faced them, she added, "We're going to leave that guest room empty for now as Dad said we're going to have a few short-term guests staying over for a night or two. If not. I think Lana and Peyton could have it."

Then, with a sudden bounce in her step, Whitney reached the end of the hall and a door next to the hobby room on the north side. Spinning her body around, she fell back against the door with one hand on the handle. "And now, for what might be my favorite room in the future, I give you, ta-da, the wine cellar!" she exclaimed before swinging the door open. With a slow motion of her arm, she presented the room in a fashion similar to a model on a game show introducing the potential prizes.

All four of the teenage boys showed limited, if not any, interest in the rack-filled room. They didn't drink wine, and Whitney's own rack with her bouncing twin globes was a far more fascinating sight than a bunch of bottles. But there was a gasp and laugh from Rachel Stratton, "Oh my! Leave it to Harvey to go all out. It's already more than half-filled."

"Alright, honey. Let's not drool over the wine and set a bad example for all these underage friends of our daughter," Clive Stratton said while he jokingly dragged his wife down the hall and away from the wine cellar.

"Sure, act like you don't care. You certainly know how I get with some wine in me," Rachel softly said to her husband in the crowded hall. Austin, in particular, seemed to perk up hearing his girlfriend's mother's comment.

After they shuffled back into the rec room, Whitney announced that the cabin tour to be over. At this point, the four young male guests looked at each other in confusion until Austin spoke up.

"Ah, Whitney, are we supposed to sleep on the couches or outside?" he asked with an attempt at a joke.

Clapping her hands together giddily, she responded. "Ooh, you boys are outside! Everyone else can go unpack while I show them. C'mon!" she added after reaching the sliding door and noticing no one had followed.

Stepping outside onto the patio, Sean and the other young men were reminded of the cold air and wondered about their fate.

"This is some kind of a joke, right? You know it's way too cold for us to sleep in a tent, even a camper," Austin asked worriedly.

After some thought, Sean asked, "Are we sleeping on that second floor of the garage?"

"Not a bad guess, Sean. Just not the right one," she countered. "Now, stop whining and follow me."

Walking out from under the patio, Sean noticed two brick walkways branched off, one slightly eastward and the other in a southwest direction. Pointing to the latter route, Whitney informed them that the way led down to the lake and a small beach. She then turned left and took the more eastward course toward an area filled with trees. They passed the stairs leading down from the main cabin deck, and Sean looked over to see what appeared to be another window-filled room under the sunroom, and he asked Whitney about it.

"Shit! I knew I forgot something. Yep, that's the hot tub in there. I thought we could take a dip later tonight if anyone wanted."

"I didn't know you had a hot tub, so I didn't bring any swim trunks, nor did Newt," Sean told her.

"Don't worry about it; Dad sent me out on a shopping trip to buy extra clothes and swimsuits. He built a larger cabin to entertain more guests and expected some would forget to bring stuff. Okay? C'mon then, let's go to the boathouse!"

"Boathouse? You have a boathouse?" Newt asked excitedly.

Still curious about their sleeping arrangements, the four boys tried to ask Whitney questions while they moved down the gently sloped walkway, but she refused to say more. Finally, after about a five-minute walk, they reached a clearing in the woods and saw a long rectangular two-story building on the shore just off the lake.

"But it's not over the water!" Newt whined slightly as he realized it was a dry boathouse. "I thought it was going to one of those."

"Oh, sorry to disappoint you, but it would be kind of pointless to have one like that here. Wasp Lake is a motor-free lake. We pretty much can only use canoes, kayaks, and paddleboats. That's what my dad plans to use it for starting next spring. Here we go, this is the way," she told them as they reached a door towards the back of the boathouse. Walking in, they saw a small door and a flight of stairs next to it.

"In there is a bathroom for you guys. It's tiny, really tiny, but it has a sink, toilet, and shower. Now let's head upstairs," she instructed them and leading the way.

The stairs turned out to be U-shaped, with a landing placed halfway up. Reaching the top, they discovered a room Whitney announced as the bunkroom. Three of the walls were filled mainly with built-in bunks. Each side had two bunks, one above the other; dresser drawers were under the lower bunk, and smaller drawers were inside each cubby hole. The front wall of the bunkroom featured two large windows overlooking the lake. Besides the six beds, there was a table, four chairs in the middle of the room, and two armchairs in front of the windows. A small dorm-size refrigerator and mini microwave were in one front corner of the room. The other front corner held a small wood stove with a shelf for extra logs.

"Wow, this is really nice, honey," Owen gushed.

"Isn't it going to get cold in here? I don't want to wake up every couple of hours to put logs in that stove," Austin complained. "Not to mention, we are kind of far away from everyone else."

"First, there's electric heating in here. You would have noticed if you had actually looked around. That stove just gives some extra warmth. Second, I'm sure you will find plenty of time to sneak around with Lacey, so being out here isn't a problem," she replied. She noticed Newt had already climbed up into the top bunk against the back wall and was looking around to see what the other two thought. That bunk likely had the best view out over the lake. "Looks like Newt already claimed his spot."

"Fine with me, I'm not sleeping in one of those top bunks," Austin said, taking the lower bunk on the east side.

"What about you, Sean? Better than sleeping bags on the floor, right?" Whitney asked as Owen claimed the lower west side bunk.

"Your dad went all out, Whitney. This place is awesome. It would have been amazing to stay in this when I was here last time," Sean told his hostess, making her happy, as he took the bunk under Newt. Yeah, Whitney is way more friendly than usual. I wonder if her Dad told her to be polite to their guests.

"Why don't you boys get unpacked, and when you're done, head back up to the cabin, okay? I need to go take care of some stuff. See you later," she announced. Owen asked her to wait so they could head back together and talk, but Whitney said they would have time later and left with a quick kiss.