Epilogue
The next afternoon, Jarrod and Heath stood at the stern of the ferry taking them back across the Hudson and watched Manhattan slowly growing smaller. The train taking them back to California would be leaving in a little over an hour, but there would be no way for them to see the skyline again. And Heath knew that he would never come back here.
He remembered Jarrod saying how difficult it was when dreams come true, but then you lose them. This was not the same kind of dream Jarrod was talking about, but there was a bit of sadness in Heath's heart to leave New York. Just three days here had been more important to him than he ever thought they could be. Here he was, a poor kid from a worn out California mining town, dreaming someday of seeing the big city, and now he had, with an older brother he never dreamed he could have, but did. Even if it had to drift into a memory, like Manhattan was drifting into the horizon, it was a memory so worth having that Heath knew he would never let it go.
"Big brother," he said, putting his arm around Jarrod's shoulders, "I don't know how I'm ever gonna thank you for this."
Jarrod smiled. "Just remember all the things on the 'do not tell Mother' list, and whatever you do, don't write them down."
"Oh, yeah, the 'do not tell Mother' list. I almost forgot about that."
"Well, don't worry. I'll just give you an elbow in the ribs if you start to tell her something you shouldn't. Do you think you'll ever come back here?"
Heath shook his head. "Not too likely for a cowboy from California. Besides, some dreams, after they come true, are better left as just memories. They're just too special to repeat."
Jarrod immediately thought of Amanda. The repeat was as sweet as the first time, maybe even sweeter, but then, New York was Heath's dream, not his. To him, New York was real, very very real. He had happily repeated his visit to New York, and he privately planned to come back here yet again.
"We still have a long train trip home," Jarrod said.
"I can catch up on my sleep," Heath said.
Jarrod laughed. "Sorry to wear you out so bad, little brother."
Heath shook his head and smiled. "I'm not." Then, impulsively, he blew a kiss across the water. "So long, New York!" he called. "It's been one helluva good time!"
And he happily let the dream turn into a memory. It was time to go home.
THE END
