Whitney Returns to the Cabin

Lacey's fit lower body bounced side-to-side as she leaned impatiently on the kitchen island. Across from her on a stool, Ramsey absentmindedly chewed on a pen. Mrs. Stratton had twice banished the girls from watching out the windows. First from the front door and then from the window over the sink. Mr. Stratton interceded when they started to put on their coats and hats to wait outside.

Suddenly, Lacey's head cocked to the side as she strained to hear. Ramsey stopped chewing on the pen and watched her friend intently. When Lacey burst up and ran to the window, Rammy was two steps behind her.

"They're here! They're here!" Lacey squealed, nearly barreling over the other redhead. Ramsey swiftly recovered and followed her friend out of the kitchen.

The others on the cabin's first floor sprung to life, abandoning whatever they used to fill the time. Rachel immediately left her spot on a couch, attempting to block the two girls.

"Girls, let them get into the house first. Lacey! Ramsey!"

The final two shouts caused them to pause midway in the foyer. The two best friends looked back at Rachel, then at each other, nodded, and hurried toward the front door.

"Argh! At least wear your coats!" Rachel yelled, but the girls ignored her advice.

Scurrying down the front stairs, the girls ignored Mr. Diamond, who had already exited his car. Instead, they watched with joy as Whitney opened the door.

"Whitney!" They squealed, racing forward and wrapping the blonde third of their trio into a fierce hug. Tears flowed down like the Daffodil Falls.

"Ohmigawd!"

"So worried about you!"

"Are you really better?"

"I felt sick to my stomach worrying about you."

"Couldn't sleep at all."

"I wanted to visit you, but my mom said no."

"Okay, calm down!" Whitney shouted. "It's cold out here, and I'm sick of the cold. Let's go inside."

"Oh! Sorry," Lacey responded sheepishly, knowing her mom had been correct.

"Do you need help walking?" Ramsey inquired nervously, wiping her eyes.

"I'm not a cripple, Ram," Whitney replied with her usual bravado.

"I'll get your bags, pumpkin." Harvey motioned for his daughter to go inside.

"Don't forget my bear. I want to snuggle up to him tonight," Whitney called back.

"Bear?" Rammy questioned.

"Shenai had Chastity pick me up the most adorable teddy bear."

"Aww! That's so sweet!" Lacey gushed.

As the three of them reached the front door, it opened. Clive, wearing his coat, hurried down the other side of the stairs.

"Let me give you a hand, Harvey."

The crying began to spread as the three girls entered the foyer; Rachel lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Whitney. Sobbing, she clutched the returning girl while issuing warnings.

"Don't you ever scare us like that again!" Then, pulling back, she intently stared at Whitney. "You hear me? No more risky behavior."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Stratton," Whitney softly replied. While her fall had been an accident, she recognized how the near-death experience frightened those that cared for her.

"I think we'll need to wrap her up in bubble wrap," joked a returning Clive, who hugged both his wife and Whitney. "And just to be safe, we should wrap our daughters up too."

"Hilarious, Dad," Lacey moaned.

"Okay, Rachel, you can let her go. Other people would like to say hi to Whitney," her husband slowly pried her off of the teenager.

Reaching the foyer's end, Skye, Gabby, and Jeff all expressed their relief that she would make a full recovery.

"Never a dull moment at Diamond Cabin, is it?" Finn cracked, reaching over to hug Whitney. While nowhere near as close to her as he was to the children of his mother's friends, Finn still had a bond with Whitney from all the summer trips to the old cabin.

"How's your dad?" she responded, pulling back to study his face.

"I-I'm not sure. Larry's with him right now."

"Larry and my dad will always be there for him."

Nodding, his face began to crumble. Moving forward, Peyton gently took his arm. Telling Whitney how thankful she felt that she would be okay, she led Finn away before he lost his composure.

"Well, you outdid yourself this time, Diamond. The spotlight is going to shine on you for a long time with this stunt," Lana commented.

"I did learn from the best," Whitney sassed back.

"Oh, I never risked my life for attention," Lana replied with a shake of her head.

"That's because I'm more creative."

"Don't get any more creative. Mentoring a new protégé would be a bitch," Lana remarked. "Lace's a lost cause with her romantic notions."

"That's for sure," Whitney said before they hugged. Off to the side, Lacey rolled her eyes.

Bridget immediately swooped in with a warm embrace after Lana pulled back. Many unspoken words were said through the quiet hug. Whitney did eventually issue a thank you. That caused Bridget to pull back slightly and look quizzically at the teenager.

"Thank you for being there for my dad. He explained on the way here how freaked out he was and how you kept him calm."

"Of course," Bridget replied with another short hug.

"Uh, is Sean around?"

"He's right behind you."

Whitney spun around to find Sean leaning on a cane in the hallway. JoJo and Newt stood behind him. JoJo gave a cute little wave while Newt stood stonefaced.

"You still a babbling pervert?" Whitney asked, closing the distance between the two.

"I'm not sure," Sean answered truthfully, wondering about his dream.

"You better not be," Whitney ordered, lightly punching him in the shoulder.

The blow caused Sean to stagger back. If JoJo and Newt hadn't braced him, he would have fallen onto the floor. Whitney's face showed horror momentarily before she downplayed the incident.

"Geez, Sean, I'm the one that stopped breathing, and you look worse than me." Moving forward, she wrapped her rescuer up in a fierce embrace. "Pee-yew! You stink."

"Oww!" Rammy exclaimed after Whitney slapped the back of her head. The three best friends had just entered the master bedroom. "What did I do?"

"John? Are you serious?!"

"You know? Wait, how do you know?" Ramsey asked in shock. Whitney does know everything!

"I overheard poor, heartbroken Sean telling his mother. He thinks he's a fool and a loser."

"You see!" Lacey pointed out to Ramsey.

"Please, don't pile in on me, Whitney. Lace wouldn't talk to me until last night."

"Really? Way to go, Lace. I didn't think you had it in you," Whitney nodded firmly.

"Well, I had to do something. Sean said those same things the other night when I realized he had a crush on Rammy. He didn't feel important or popular at school. This just reinforced that feeling."

"I said I was sorry. It's not my fault he never talked to me," Ramsey insisted.

"It's not hard to know the names of our classmates, but this is that weird reporter obsession of yours," Whitney said with a shake of her head.

Ramsey's eyes immediately darted toward Lacey. They held accusations of betrayal behind them. Lacey shook her head. She never told Whitney about Ramsey's so-called reporter mode.

"What do you mean?"

"You're too focused on journalism. Don't view everything as a potential story. Try and live a little," Whitney suggested, a chuckle emerging. "Lace, remember our tea parties. We would be princesses, and Ram would be the reporter covering our party."

"You said you liked to have paparazzi covering you," Rammy shot back.

"Princess? You always made clear that you were the crown princess," Lacey recalled, still annoyed at the long-ago insistence.

"Whatever. So, how did he react?" Whitney inquired.

"Huh?" Ramsey and Lacey both uttered.

"Sean." The embarrassed look that met her question led Whitney to throw her head back in disbelief. "Dammit, Ramsey, how have you not gone to talk to him? And why didn't you make her, Lacey?"

"Whoa! We just made up late last night!" Lacey pointed, not mentioning how they made up. "And Sean's been sleeping mostly according to everyone."

"I have no excuse," Ramsey admitted. "I've been avoiding it. I feel awful for not knowing his name, but I don't think that's my fault."

"You're done avoiding this talk. I'm dragging you to his room right now," Whitney announced. "Uh, what room is he in?"

The door swung open, revealing Lana.

"Time to stop gossiping, kiddos. My mom has a special treat she made for Whitney. So off to the kitchen, right this instance," Lana ordered. "March!"

"Rachel, you didn't need to go and make something special," Harvey said as the girls joined the others around the dining room table. The others had been in the middle of discussing plans for later that afternoon.

"Oh, we sent Kimberly to the store for the missing items," Rachel explained with a wink. "But, I suspect that Newt did all the shopping."

"Aww, thanks, Newt," Whitney flashed a killer smile that caused him to sputter out that it wasn't a problem.

"Where is Kimberly?" Harvey inquired.

"Sulking down in her room," Gabby supplied. Harvey and Whitney shrugged, not caring why.

"Now, I know Whitney has acquired fancy tastes going to five-star restaurants with you over the years. So, I tried to think of a special treat. When Whitney was little, she liked to come to our house and brag about her great-grandmother's baking skills," Rachel started her reveal.

"She was always proud of her great-grandmother," Harvey admitted. "I'm still trying to replicate as many as I can."

"Exactly! After she passed away, I recall that Whitney would moan how certain treats you made didn't turn out correctly. Mine might not be quite the same, but I know my taste-testers gave me a thumbs up."

"Which of Grammy's specials did you make?" Whitney's interest perked immensely.

Walking over with a platter covered by a large paper towel, Rachel paused dramatically before whipping the towel off.

"Butterscotch sticky buns," she announced.

"No way! Dad's versions sucked," Whitney stated. Her hand wavered, unsure if the sticky buns would be up to par.

Harvey had no such hesitation. Biting in the gooey mess, he savored the taste before swallowing. Nodding, he took another bite, which equaled the first.

"This is delicious, Rachel. I never came close in my attempts."

"Wow! These are almost like Grammy's!" Whitney praised.

"I suspect you missed one important aspect. You used butterscotch and not scotch," Rachel revealed.

"Grammy gave us liquored-up desserts? No wonder I couldn't have more than one at a time. Way to go, Grammy!" Whitney cheered, her deceased great-grandmother looking even more fantastic in her eyes.

"Real scotch, you say?" Harvey mulled while rubbing his chin in thought. "That's surprising. She never left behind any recipes, so I never considered adding alcohol."

"Your grandmother sounds awesome, Harv," Gabby remarked. "Count me in as a taste-tester when you give it a try."

"You know, Mom, I would come home more often if your desserts turned into cocktails," Lana suggested.

"Don't you come home enough?" Clive questioned.

"Oh, Father, you wound me."

"Well, I might try a few other recipes that I found on my phone this morning," Rachel admitted but quickly cut off her daughter. "Only it will be for my friends, not the kids."

"Kids? I'm twenty-one!"

"You haven't started acting like it," Clive commented.

The bickering between the Strattons came to an end with Whitney's sobbing.

"Pumpkin, what's wrong?" Harvey asked.

"You've all been so wonderful to me—especially you, Mrs. Stratton. Lacey's lucky to have such a fabulous mom," Whitney said, wiping her eyes. She sighed as Rachel hugged her from behind.

"You'll always be one of my little girls," Mrs. Stratton assured her.

The sticky butterscotch buns rapidly disappeared. Those that ate more than one piece joked about getting drunk even before the ball.

"I tell ya if I'm tipsy before we even get there, look out," Bridget giggled.

"Mother!" Peyton hissed.

"Lana, you have my permission to feed my daughter drinks tonight."

"All right!" Lana flashed her evil smile at her BFF.

Peyton grumbled that even her mother turned traitor.

"Okay, thanks for dessert, but I need to start getting ready for tonight. I have lots to do," Whitney stated, starting to stand up, but her father pushed her back down.

"Before you do that, we're going to discuss the rest of the day with everyone here. First, you will take a short nap." Harvey ignored Whitney's whines. "Even if I have to lock you in the bunkhouse. Second, we're going to discuss how your chaperoning will work tonight."