Suggestions for Stress

The ringing of a telephone jarred Harvey out of the daze he found himself in from watching a TV show about home renovations on mute. Gawd, I need to stop watching this crap. It's causing me to seriously consider renovating the beach house in Breezy Bay. Hurrying over to pick up the phone, located on the nightstand between the two beds, before it woke up Whitney, he half-dove to grab it as the next ring started.

"Hello?...Oh, hey. How's it going?...You did?...Good, good...Where?...Aw, come on...That bad?...How's he taking it?....Yeah, poor kid...That's a good idea. It's probably for the best...She's doing better. I expect that she'll be discharged in the morning...Thanks for doing all this; I wish I could've helped...I know...You're a good friend...Thanks...Don't hesitate to call again if you need me...Alright, I'll see you tomorrow."

Harvey hung up the room telephone, then squeezed his eyes shut from the headache he felt coming on. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he went over everything that had gone wrong the last few days and what might go wrong in the future.

"Who was that?" asked a groggy voice from the chair in the far corner of the room. The same one that Bridget slept in last night.

Harvey opened his eyes and turned to face his ex-wife.

"Larry. He and Finn found Fred," he answered.

"How is he?" Willow asked, yawning. She stretched her still fit body, drawing his eyes to those firm breasts he missed.

"Drunk as a skunk," he revealed, glancing over at his sleeping daughter. "Larry tracked him down to the apartment of a stripper."

"The one he used to date? She had a very stripper-y name, if I recall," Willow said, sitting forward on her chair while attempting to blink away her sleepiness.

"Champagne, and that was her real name. No, I guess this is one of her friends from the club."

"His taste in women runs from one end of the spectrum to the other," Willow commented until another thought hit her. "Wait, didn't I hear that he brought a girlfriend to the cabin."

"Yes, Skye, but they broke up yesterday."

"I'll guess another stripper with that name," Willow sighed as she speculated.

"No, she's a waitress and a lovely girl. I hoped that Fred wouldn't screw it up with her," Harvey said, nodding at their sleeping daughter. "Whitney took a real liking to her. She and Lacey talked Skye into staying after the breakup."

"Lacey likes everyone."

"There is nothing wrong with that," Harvey stated. Then, watching as she yawned again, he recalled his earlier advice to her. "I told you to go home and take a nap, but you didn't."

"I wanted to get my apologies done today. Don't give me that look, Harv. I know I was rude, and I admitted it."

"I'm not giving you a hard time. I know you had a rough twenty-fours as well." Harvey held his hands in front of him. He didn't want to start another argument with Willow. That seemed to happen far too often these days. "You had a long flight; I get that. But you look exhausted. Go home."

"I'm not going back home! I want to stay in town, to be here for Whitney," Willow snapped as she started to grow heated.

"I didn't mean to go back home to Swallow Crossing, Willow. I meant to your townhouse. Go relax, check up on this boyfriend, and get a good night of sleep," Harvey clarified. "I can tell you from experience that these chairs suck for getting sleep."

"If you can put up with them, then I--" Another yawn cut off Willow's response. "Fine. I'll go, but don't tell me you were right."

"I'd never think of doing that," he replied with a small grin.

"If anything happens, call me at once. You got that?"

"I promise I will. Don't worry about Whitney. Every doctor that's stopped in today has said that she's doing great," Harvey reminded.

"I worry about my daughter every day," Willow informed him while pulling on her coat. Walking to the door, she stopped and looked back at her ex-husband. "And Ricardo's not my boyfriend. He's a friendly acquaintance and only a vacation date."

Nodding, Harvey watched as the woman he loved dearly walked out of the room. Sighing, he looked down at the floor. I wish you would find a boyfriend. You deserve happiness and a man who's content with only one woman. Whitney needs at least one stable relationship in her life to influence her.

"Excuse me, Mr. Diamond."

Harvey turned to see Libby standing in the doorway with Eloa approaching from behind her.

"You're still here?" he asked, glancing at the clock.

"Yes, we ended up staying as there was a multi-car crash outside of town. It was all hands on deck," Eloa answered. Her fellow nurse seemed somewhat shaken.

"Another one? I didn't hear about that," Harvey replied, glancing at the television. "I haven't watched any news today. Is everyone alright?"

"No, we lost two patients," Eloa revealed as Libby tried to squeeze her eyes shut to keep the tears back that wanted to burst out.

"I'm very sorry to hear that. If there is anything I can do for their families or the hospital, please let me know," Harvey offered. His eyes slide over to where Whitney slept in the bed. Two families weren't as fortunate as mine.

"Actually, we stopped in to see how you were doing," Libby said, finally able to find her voice. "You've had a rough day too."

"We're heading down the street to Griff's for a drink with a few others," Eloa relayed. "We often do that after days like this. We share a few drinks and attempt to cheer each other up. Sometimes it helps."

"We thought you might want to join us," Libby suggested with a small, hopeful smile. "Kicking your shoes off for a moment might help relieve your stress."

"That's a very kind offer. One I might have taken up if I just hadn't sent my ex-wife home. Stretching my legs would feel nice, as would that offer of a drink and conversation. But I'll have to pass," Harvey responded, touched that they thought to ask him. "I might head down to the cafeteria for a moment, but I wouldn't feel comfortable going very far or leaving my daughter alone for more than a few minutes."

"Is there anything we could get you?" Libby asked, meaning from the cafeteria.

"Or do anything for you?" Eloa inquired, sizing him up and down.

"That's why you've been moping around here for the last few hours?" Lana questioned in disbelief.

The busty redhead and the rest of the younger cabin guests had relocated to the rec room after grabbing a quick bite to eat for dinner. As usual, Austin had taken over the flatscreen TV. And much to the annoyance of everyone but Jared and Nate, he'd found another endless college football bowl game to watch. At least the other two guys got up, moved around, and engaged in different conversations. Austin just sat there, staring at the game as he steamed over something. Skye and Peyton sat on the stools at the bar, nursing some fruity mixed drinks, while Lana played bartender.

"Lan, leave her alone," a tired Peyton told her best friend.

"What?! Didn't you just hear what she said?" Lana questioned, all excited over the story.

"I shouldn't have said anything," JoJo remarked, embarrassed even further after letting slip what happened in the den. The younger girl sat on the stool closest to the stairs, next to Peyton.

"Oh, JoJo, don't be like that. That's a fantastic story! You knocked a guy out by only showing him your tits in a bra. And he was your best friend," Lana chuckled. "You ever do that, Skye?"

"I don't think so," the brunette with blonde highlights vaguely answered. She didn't want to get dragged into the conversation.

"I know Pey hasn't. She ain't got the boobs for it," Lana cracked, earning a dirty glare from her BFF. "Although, that ass--that smoking hot ass--might do the trick." The ginger fanned her hand in front of her face as if she needed to cool down after mentioning Peyton's tight tush.

"Maybe I should go see if Newt needs a break," Lacey piped up from the recliner.

Her older sister rolled her eyes at what had to be the tenth time this hour that Lacey suggested checking on or helping play nurse for Sean. A joke to tease her sister was on the tip of her tongue, but Lana didn't know how Austin would take it.

"Newt is fine with keeping an eye on Sean," Peyton answered instead. "He's playing on his tablet."

"That's the problem!" the petite redhead whined. "What if he's too focused on his game to notice that Sean needs help?"

"He's fine," Austin growled.

"Who you should go see is Ramsey," Peyton said. "She's up there thinking that you hate her and that everyone hates her."

"I don't hate her. I'm mad at her," Lacey responded so softly that the others barely heard her.

"Get your ass upstairs and tell her that!" Lana ordered. "She's your best friend; work it out. You don't see me ignoring Peyton whenever she pisses me off."

"That's because you're usually the one pissing me off," Peyton replied before turning back to face Lacey. "Lace, go talk to Rammy. We'll check in on Newt and Sean."

"Okay," the younger Stratton said, taking a deep breath. "Will you be alright down here, Auss?"

"I'm doing just great," Austin curtly responded, not taking his eyes off the game.

Lana waited until her sister left before continuing the previous conversation.

"Damn, Jo, you're having quite the growth spurt the last two days. You lose your virginity in several rounds of what sounded like mindblowing sex, learned what amazing weapons that our big boobs can be," she leaned forward to whisper the final part. "And you popped your morning-after pill cherry."

"Lana!" Peyton hissed.

JoJo placed her head on the bar and covered it with her arms.

"What? I'm not making fun of her. I'm kind of fucking jealous," Lana protested.

"No, you're not," came JoJo's muffled reply.

"Hell, yes, I am! My first time basically sucked. It took me forever to get my introduction to sex so good it makes you scream," Lana grumpily explained. "And Sean has never fainted whenever I let him see me in my bra."

"When have you done that?" Peyton demanded.

"Like every fourth time I slept over," Lana shrugged. "Maybe less. I couldn't overdo it, or it wouldn't be a special treat for him."

"Aw, Lanana, are you feeling blue?" Nate asked, coming to stand behind next to JoJo.

"If I say I am, will you cheery me up, Jokey Smurf?" Lana batted her eyelashes at him.

"That's a Smurftastic idea," Nate replied in an exaggerated voice.

"Will you two knock it off?! Those frigging Smurf jokes got old when we were ten," Peyton snarled.

"But he's my little Smurf!" Lana protested in a childish voice. A voice that caused Jared and Austin's heads to turn around in intrigue. They looked at each other and nodded at the possibilities of schoolgirl Lana.

"Yeah, it's not our fault that you and Finn didn't come up with fun nicknames for each other, Miss--" Nate started to say, but Peyton cut him off.

"Don't you dare call me that name!"

"Geez, I thought you said she'd mellowed out, Lan," Nate remarked, shaking his head.

"She's been grumpy a lot this last semester. Needs more sex," Lana offered her assessment. "I can't pull a rabbit out of a hat for her to fuck."

"How about we try a test of JoJo's Knockout Bazookas?" Nate suggested, causing JoJo's head to shoot off the bar in alarm and Peyton to say "Nathan" in a warning tone.

"Don't worry; I'm not talking about you as our guinea pig. Let's let Lana have a shot," Nate motioned to the current bartender.

"Ooh, I like the sound of that," cooed the busty redhead.

"I don't," muttered her blonde best friend.

"I say you whip that top off and see if Jared or Austin end up face-first on the floor," Nate announced his game.

Austin's head whipped back around again, his mind swirling with joyful anticipation as he thought his dream of seeing his girlfriend's sister's naked tits might come true. Jared's head also whipped around, focusing on JoJo instead. He didn't want to hurt or embarrass her by participating in Nate's idea.

Peyton's eyes opened wide, and she jumped off her stool. Only instead of slapping Nate as Lana expected, her best friend walked right past him. Lana's eyes followed, and she saw a new person coming from the stairs.

"Finny!"

"Oh, Finn, are you alright?" Peyton inquired, meeting him first with a short hug.

"Yeah, I got here a few minutes ago but had to deal with the moms first."

"Finn, you find your old man?" Nate questioned, causing Finn to do a doubletake.

"Nate? Wh-where did you come from?"

"A land called Hawaii. I believe you've visited me there before," the shorter man cracked, fiercely hugging his childhood friend. "It's great to see you!"

"It's great to see you too," Finn replied, a tiny smile cracking through his emotionally exhausted face. "I can't believe you showed up."

"I can't leave my Fred, Jr. all alone with Daphne and Velma. Who's going to create the hi-jinks? What if the ghost of Poppy Dufor shows up to haunt the cabin?" Nate questioned.

"Unfortunately, Poppy's still breathing, but she manages to haunt me," Peyton remarked as Lana laid a big kiss on Finn's cheek.

"Damn. I guess I have to wait a little longer. You punch one dickhead date of hers, and she swears never to let you touch her until she's dead."

"Did you find your dad?" Skye asked, coming up behind the group of friends.

"Yeah, we tracked him down through one of his old drinking buddies. He was holed up with a lady friend of a previous girlfriend. I'm sorry, Skye, I really am," Finn revealed, feeling like dirt for how his father treated the young woman.

"It's not your fault. I guess I didn't mean much to him," Skye responded in a sad voice. "Sounds like it was a good thing I didn't help you."

"My dad isn't in good condition, Skye. He was a belligerent asshole when we found him. If it weren't for Uncle Larry, he wouldn't have left with us. Even then, we had to drag him back to his condo," Finn explained, his shoulders slumping. "I think I'll head to bed."

"Yeah, me too," Skye said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We agreed years ago not to let Frumpy Fred get us down," Nate remarked. "Right, Lanana?"

"Right!"

"So get that scrumptious behind of yours back behind that bar," Nate ordered, swatting her ass. "Who's up for some shots?"

"Gawd, no," Austin moaned, recalling the last several nights of drunkenness and the mornings of misery. "I'm out of here."

"Come on, Jo, just one to help calm your nerves," Jared said, putting his arm around her.

"That's the spirit!" Nate encouraged. He wrapped his arm around Peyton's waist before she could leave. "Don't run away, Pey, or I'll start thinking you hate me."

"I do hate you."

"Not yet. We continue to teeter on that thin line between love and hate," Nate replied earnestly. "My mom still has hope for us."

"Finn," Peyton urged for help.

"Come on, Skye," Finn said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "Watching Nathan and Peyton is like sitting through a trainwreck of a romantic comedy."

"I can't believe Harvey Diamond has a cabin without a hot tub," Nate complained, shaking his head.

Behind the bar, a shit-eating grin appeared on Lana's face.