An unlikely romance sprouts from a chance encounter between Cliff and Hannah after she spurns his good deed. ----------
Cliff tries doing a good deed for financially distressed Hannah by paying for her expensive car repairs. He expects nothing in...
Hannah was now captivated by Izzy's childhood story. "What happened?"
"I began to cry. Seeing Mom's murderous expression, I remember begging her not to hit me. I pleaded and apologized and told her it was just an accident. She grabbed the material at the front of the dress in both hands. I apologized again and told her again it was just an accident."
Izzy took a breath. "Mom pulled the dress with me in it up to her face, just inches from mine. She shook me and yelled at me. Her spittle splashed into my eyes. She told me she knew all about accidents. She asked me if I ever wondered about the age gap between me and Cliffy. She said it was because I was an accident. I was a mistake. I was her biggest mistake. I was her biggest regret."
Izzy dabbed at her eyes with a cocktail napkin. "Both Dad and Cliffy pulled her off me. The next few minutes, I blanked out, but I remembered what those words did to me. Hannah, I never felt so unloved. I never felt so worthless and alone. I thought I'd be better off dead. Next thing I knew, I was standing at the deep end of the drained pool. Dad had taken Mom away. Only Cliffy and I remained. I was impulsive. I was in excruciating pain. I was about to let myself fall over the edge of that drained pool eight feet onto the hard concrete below."
She sighed. "From behind Cliffy took my hand. He turned me to face him and didn't say a word. He embraced me and held me. I wept. I trembled. I couldn't stand up and went limp in his arms. All the while, Cliffy held onto me in a tight embrace until I cried myself out. Then, he led me back to my room and helped me out of Mom's ruined dress and into my PJs and into bed."
Hannah didn't care for Cliff's mother, but now she despised her. How could any mother be so cruel to their own child?
Izzy went on. "I don't know what happened after that. Maybe Mom and Dad went to the social and maybe they didn't. I woke, and it was dark outside. Feeling all hollowed out and empty, I didn't want to be alone. I found Cliff in his bedroom, his suit hanging on a closet hook. I found out later he had canceled his date to stay home to watch out for me and to make sure I wouldn't harm myself. He was in bed. I crawled in with him. My brother didn't object. He didn't say anything."
Izzy had been staring at her drink. She now made eye contact with Hannah. "Don't misunderstand. It wasn't icky. I just needed to have someone physically close to me, someone to make me feel cared for. Cliffy understood that. For that one night we slept side-by-side in the same bed."
Izzy broke eye contact and wrapped both hands around her cocktail glass. "For the rest of that summer, Cliffy didn't have to tell me how much he cared for me. He showed me how much he loved me. He dated all the time, but not that summer. He stuck to me like glue. He took me everywhere with him, to the store, to the movies, out for ice cream, to Hershey Park. Can you imagine a nineteen-year-old man so devoted to his gawky little sister?"
Hannah could imagine it. Cliff was that kind of guy.
"It didn't end when Cliff went back to college. He called me every day. He practically raised me. He's the one who taught me to drive when I turned sixteen. He's the one who took me shopping for my high school junior and senior prom gowns. He cared for me and nurtured me. From that time on, he put himself in the middle between me and my parents and took all their heat directed at me. He always took my side, and he still does."
Once again, Izzy made eye contact. "That's the brother Cliffy is to me. That's the man he would be for you, always loyal, never unwavering, forever there for you, if only you would let him."
She repeated. "Let him!"
Izzy chugged the remainder of her drink and got off her barstool. "I have to get back before Aaron comes looking for me. Hannah, for what it's worth, I never told that story to anyone before, not even to Aaron. Until now, Cliffy and I have kept it between us. I hope you take it to heart, because my brother deserves to be happy. You both do."
Hannah watched as Izzy walked a bit unsteadily from the bar. Then she finished her own drink and followed Izzy out.
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Do you have a better understanding now of why Cliff and Izzy are so tightly bound?
