Chapter 7

The carriage took them to the theatre district at Union Square, where they went for drinks at one of the hotels in the area. Heath thought "Wow!" but knew he'd sound too much like a hick to say it out loud. The small hotel bar was full of people in a variety of dress, all of it expensive. The women were in colors of all sorts, the men mostly in black evening wear but many in more business-like suits, like he and Jarrod wore. Everyone was talking and laughing and Heath thought this place was as far from the sights and sounds he'd seen on the lower east side and the Bowery – and even from the British pub - than from here to Stockton.

Jarrod found a table, and he and Heath seated the ladies there. Jarrod waved to a waiter before he sat down, and soon they were having a light sherry and some fruit and cheese. Heath felt a lot like a fish out of water. Jarrod was used to this kind of company, but it was nothing he'd ever really seen before. He just watched what his brother did and followed his lead on conversation, until Gail spoke up.

"I want to hear about living on a ranch in the wild west," she said, directing the question to both Jarrod and Heath.

Jarrod bailed on it. "Well, I'd better let Heath answer that one. I'm not home for long stretches at a time. Heath is the one who herds the cattle and horses and runs the ranch business with our brother Nick."

"What is it like to ride a horse all day?" Gail asked, looking at Heath.

"Uh, well," he said, "actually – " He didn't know what to say. How do you tell a sophisticated New York lady that being on a horse all day hurts your rear end and makes you smell bad?

Jarrod saved him. "I think Heath is trying to find a delicate way of describing life among the cattle and the horses and how it can be a bit – fragrant?"

Gail laughed. "Not in a good way, I take it."

"No, not in a good way," Heath said. "But you get pretty used to it."

"So, would you say the wild west is as romantic as they say it is?"

"No," Heath said quickly. "It's a lot of work, but it's good work. You're tired at the end of the day, but you feel good about it. But romantic? I'll go for months without seeing a pretty woman – and none of the ladies that come near a ranch can come close to you two ladies in the pretty department."

"Well, Gail, you and I may have to pay a visit to this Stockton place and show the ladies there how to pretty up," Amanda said.

"How do you like New York?" Gail asked Heath.

"Oh, I like it fine," Heath said. "You have quite a variety of people here, very – interesting people." He knew he didn't want to talk about the poor and the thugs and definitely not the dancing girls. He looked at Jarrod to bail him out again.

Jarrod saved him. "The people you see in Stockton are pretty much from the same mold – conservative, plainly dressed whether they're poor or rich. Working people, working with their hands and working with animals. And you have to remember, the population of Stockton is only a tiny fraction of the population of New York. You just don't see as many different of kinds of people as you see here."

Heath said, "I don't think you see even the variety of colors you see here in this room in all of Stockton."

"Sounds dull, doesn't it?" Jarrod said.

"Well," Amanda struggled to sound diplomatic. "It sounds – oh, well, yes, to us New York girls, it sounds dull."

They all laughed at her honesty.

"So, Jarrod, have you seen 'The Tempest' before?" Gail asked.

"Yes, I have, many years ago in Boston."

"What should we be looking for?"

"Well, it's a story about family – brothers who – betray their brothers," Jarrod said, looking at Heath. "The price they each have to pay because of the betrayals. One brother becomes a powerful sorcerer – the story is how he uses his powers to reverse those betrayals, and find a husband for his daughter in the bargain."

Heath and Jarrod shared a look. Yes, there had been betrayal between them even in the short five years they had been together – more than once, with Jarrod the betrayer for the most part and he knew it – but as in Shakespeare, they had worked it out in the end.

"Sounds like it's gonna be an interesting tale," Heath said. He raised his sherry. "Here's to brothers who work things out in the end."

"Here, here," Jarrod agreed as the rest of them raised their glasses.

XXXXXXXXXX

The experience at the theatre was beyond all Heath's expectations. He was totally amazed at how much he liked Shakespeare. Jarrod was right. Hearing the language spoken was completely different from reading it. It came alive, turned into poetry, and he could understand it!

Well, almost all of it. Some of the words by themselves meant nothing to him, but in the context of what he could understand, he was getting the gist of things. And he got the story, and he liked the acting and the sets and the costumes.

And he was riveted. The two sets of brothers – enemies, not friends. The duke betrayed by his brother and run out of his dukedom who became a wizard so great he could call up storms, and the magical sprite who did his bidding. The beautiful girl who had never seen a human being other than her father, the wizard. The crazy trio of the half-man half-beast and the two servants washed ashore in the storm. The young man washed ashore to fall in love with the girl. They all became real! Heath was fascinated, and happy to notice that Gail was, too.

Jarrod and Amanda both noticed and smiled to each other. "Your brother's having a wonderful time, isn't he?" Amanda asked.

"Seems so," Jarrod said. "And so is Gail. You know, there's nothing like seeing this play through their eyes. Kind of makes me remember the first time I saw it."

"Were you that enthralled?"

"I was. Well, I'd been reading Shakespeare plays for years before I ever saw one, and this was the first one I saw. That's why I was glad to see it was playing here tonight. It's Heath's first, too."

"You're a wonderful brother, to bring him here and show him around the big city."

"Uh – " Jarrod leaned in and spoke quietly. "I can't say I've always been a wonderful brother, and you might not say that if you saw some of the places I've taken him around here."

"The 'don't tell Mother' tour?"

Jarrod was astonished.

Amanda laughed. "That's what you were calling your visit the last time we were together!"

Jarrod felt caught. He didn't remember that. He was amazed that Amanda did. He shrugged helplessly.

Amanda laughed so hard she had to bury her face in Jarrod's arm to keep from disturbing the people around them, and Jarrod tried to stifle himself but only barely succeeded. When she finally stopped laughing, Amanda rested her head on Jarrod's shoulder, and he put his arm around her.

Jarrod looked at his brother for a while, wishing he had brought him to New York a lot sooner than this. His mind tried to drag in the times he'd been more the betrayer than the supportive brother, but he wouldn't let it. The betrayals could stay on the stage tonight. Heath was looking like he was having too good a time to let any regrets anywhere near them tonight.

As if he felt his brother's eyes on him, Heath looked over at Jarrod and gave him one of his lopsided smiles. Jarrod gave it back.

XXXXXXXX

The late dinner was light and wonderful, at a restaurant near the hotel they had shared drinks in. Jarrod was a bit flabbergasted that Heath wanted to talk so much about the play, asking questions about things he didn't quite follow and even about the history surrounding the play – did Shakespeare really believe the Americas would be populated by half-monsters like Caliban?

The discussion went on and on and Jarrod became more and more amazed that Heath liked the play so much. He couldn't have been happier – trying to talk Shakespeare with Nick had always been like trying to talk the law with – well, Nick. Even Eugene had always seemed to go cross-eyed when Jarrod tried to talk to him about Shakespeare or other literature. Suddenly, Jarrod had a brother who actually enjoyed some of the things he did.

Two separate carriages arrived to pick them up after dinner and to drive them back to the residence where the Barkley brothers would part with the ladies. But delightfully, they took the long way back – through the park, beautiful and tranquil in the warm early summer night air.