Chapter Fifteen

Weeks of being calm must always be followed by a storm…

"You're kidding! His first words were not Uncle Henry!" Diana giggled almost spilling her newly poured glass of red wine. She watched Henry nod quickly before shooting a warm smile her way.

"Fine don't believe me but I am being completely serious! The first word to come out of Keller's mouth was Hen-ry." She sat down her crystal glass on the table then pulled her legs under her as she moved to a more comfortable position on the couch.

"I am just going to ask Teddy or Elizabeth, they will tell me the truth." Henry's smile came off his face as he leaned back into the chair he was sitting in.

"If you ask them, they will say that it was Daddy or something crazy like that." Diana couldn't help but laugh making Henry join her as well. The two of them had been sitting in the Cutting's living room for hours and Diana was pleased on how it was going. The history between them had not come up once as she hoped it wouldn't.

"So maybe he didn't say my name but I was here when he took his first steps," Henry said raising his glass before taking a sip. Diana smiled.

"Now that is a little more believable."

"Well this you can believe; his first steps were in this very room. Teddy and I got him to walk." Diana looked around the room trying to imagine how it was to watch Keller take his first steps on his own.

"You seem to be around Keller a lot," she stated focusing her eyes back on Henry. She watched him nod.

"What can I say, I love that little guy." Diana reached for her glass as a long howl came from outside. The wind had not let up for hours and the snow was now coming down in sheets. If you were to look out the window, you would only see the dark of the night along with the many bright white crystals that were falling from their home in the sky. The driver informed Diana only two hours ago that there wasn't any way for anyone to travel on the roads and the storm wasn't going to let up anytime soon. Once he said that, it began to worry Diana for now she had to share a house with Henry and a few maids. But as they continued to talk, the agonize she felt began to slowly fade away along with the bottle of red wine they opened to share between each other.

"Miss Holland, Mr. Schoonmaker?" a voice came from behind them. They both turned their heads to see the person who the voice belonged to. Through the dark, it was hard to make out who it was but once she stepped into the light, they knew it was Elizabeth's personal maid Mary.

"I was just wondering if there was anything else that either of you needed?" she asked politely folding her hands in front of her. Henry looked a Diana and he shrugged.

"I don't need anything," he responded before finishing off his glass of wine. Diana also shook her head.

"I am fine also, thank you." Mary bowed her head but remained where she stood. Diana gave her a puzzled look.

"Is everything all right? she asked and Mary nodded.

"Oh yes everything is just fine. I was just wondering if would be okay if I called it a night?" Diana was shocked. No one had ever asked her if they could go to sleep before.

"Well of course, but just what time is it?"

"It's well after midnight," Mary explained. Diana turned to Henry and all he did was smile at her. She couldn't believe how fast time was moving but as she recalled, time always went to quickly when she was with him.

"Oh , yes please go get some sleep, Mary." Diana waved her off and Mary bowed before exiting the room. She turned back to Henry and watched him reach for the bottle of wine to pour himself another glass.

"I cannot believe that it is after midnight!" Diana said cradling her own glass.

"Well time flies by when you're having fun right?" he replied. He then took the bottle and motioned it towards Diana, implying that she should have some more. But she shook her head and stood up from the couch and began to walk around the room. Then her eyes fell on a portrait of the Cutting family the hung on the wall. She stopped there to admire it; taking in the vibrant colors that painter had used to portray the family. It was beautiful and the three of them looked so happy. Teddy was standing behind his wife who was sitting down and holding Keller. Looking at this picture made her hope that one day that she could have a beautiful family like her sister had.

"Why did you do it," Henry's voice broke the silence. Diana turned to face him in an instant.

"Pardon me?"

"Why did you do it," he repeated himself.

"Why did I do what," she asked but by the look on his face, she knew exactly what he was talking about. She watched him place his glass on the oak table before standing up. He walked over to the fireplace and placed his arm above it and leaned against, his eyes never leaving the raging flame.

"You know I would have taken care of you. I would have given you anything you wanted."

"That's not the reason I left-

"Then what is the reason!" he exclaimed turning to face her. There was pain in his eyes and Diana could see it.

"I am still trying to understand why you left me standing on that pier alone that day. I just want to know why." Diana collected her thoughts before she began to speak.

"I couldn't stay here," she stated simply. Henry nodded and looked down at his feet. Diana leaned against the wall, hoping that was enough for him. But she knew it wasn't.

"I have been telling myself that since the day you left but I know there is more as to why you left and that is all I want to know Di." For awhile Diana just stared into his eyes while she tried to find the answer within herself.

"I honestly don't know why besides the fact I couldn't stay here," she whispered. With her words, she watched Henry's face fill with anger.

"There has got to be more to why you left then just simply you had to leave!" he said bring his hand to his face.

"There is no other reason Henry! I couldn't stay in New York! I didn't want to be a prisoner here any longer. I had to see what it was like to be unknown to a city," she truthfully told him. Henry ran his fingers through his hair and began to walk around the room.

"Was I the one that imprisoned you?" he asked making Diana's own anger boil to the surface.

"How could you even think that!" she asked in complete shock.

"Because, Di , I stood on that pier and was ready to live my life with you but instead you left me standing there alone! There was not one day that we were together that I went without thinking about you. You had my heart and I was hoping that I could have yours but instead you crushed mine." Diana's heart began to slowly break inside her.

"Do you actually think it was easy for me to leave?" she asked. His eyes locked with hers.

"Well, it was easy for you to turn me down so I think it was possible."

"Oh my God," she said and turned her back to him. She could fell the tears gathering on the corner of her eyes.

"Di?" she heard him say behind her. She slowly turned to face him, not caring if he saw her cry.

"Do you not know anything about me? Henry I was head over heels for you when we were together! When you asked me to marry you my heart was screaming to say yes but I knew that staying in New York wouldn't make me happy. To you, it may have looked easy for me to leave you but it was the hardest damn thing I ever had to do!" she explained to him at full volume. She watched him blink in surprise.

"And you know what else? I hated Paris! There was not one day when I was there that I regretted leaving New York!"

"Then why didn't you come back!" he matched her volume.

"I couldn't come back! I knew there was no way you would take me back after what I did to you! But don't you think not a day went by that I wanted to jump into that ocean that separated us and swim across back to you." She ran her fingers through her hair wondering why she was telling him almost everything she never wanted him to know. For some reason, it felt right. He had the right to know how she felt.

"I would have taken you back." Diana couldn't look at him.

"I don't believe you would have." She heard footsteps coming towards her.

"Look at me Di." She looked up and there he was their faces only inches away from each other.

"Since the moment you left not a day went by that I didn't think about you. Even though you said no to me, I was still in love with you. No matter what I did I couldn't fall out of love with you. I knew we were meant to be together."

"But soon you realized that I wasn't coming back and you fell out of love with me. That's a great story Henry," she said fiercely and then turned to leave. But Henry caught her arm and brought his face close to his.

"Listen to me. Even though you left, it didn't feel like it was over between us." For a long second, Diana stared deeply into Henry's eyes. Inside her heart, she was starting to feel the same way she felt days before she left for Paris.

"I," she began to say. She knew this was wrong and she had to get out of this room and she had to get away from him before her true feelings about him came out.

"I have to go," she whispered to him as the tears streamed down her face. She pulled her arm away from him and started walking out of the room. When she made it to the doorway, Henry's voice called out.

"You're not going anywhere." As she turned to speak to him, he was already standing next to her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. And the next thing she knew, his lips were on hers. It took her by surprise and she caught herself as she hit her head against the doorway. But she didn't care anymore. She wrapped her arms around Henry's neck and kissed him back. His lips tasted so good to her. Soon he pulled away to meet her gaze.

"You're not going anywhere without me." Diana smiled at him then pressed her lips against his for a second kiss, this one only better the first. Before she knew it, Henry had scooped her up in his arms and was beginning to carry her to the room he had stayed in the night before.

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