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“Which part?”
“All of it”
“Does the S in Sean S Finley stand for Swan then?”
“Possibly But maybe not” He saw her expression and added, “The nainal naiven to me at birth, and then the name on the amended birth certificate”
“Who changed your name?”
“According to Montana records, natures are on the petition”
“What did they change?”
“My last name”
“Why?”
His lips curved but there was no warmth in his eyes “That is the million dollar question”
“You have no idea?”
“I have an idea, but no supporting evidence”
“So your pen nainal certificate?”
“Not exactly But it’s a variation My grandmother did not read or write well She could do basicwere quite difficult for her, and so when she’d take ive the So if you looked at my various medical records you’d see that my name is different on each—Sean Shane Swan Finley”
“What did your grandmother call you?”
“Shane Sean Swan Finley” He smiled faintly “I think I was all of those But usually Shane Swan or Sean Swan”
“Who an?”
“That was randmother’s maiden name She was a member of the Salish and Kootenai Tribe The reservation is near Flathead Lake”
“I’m not familiar with the tribe”
“Not many people outside Montana and the Pacific Northwest are”
“Did she live on the reservation?”
“Yes”
“But you weren’t born on the reservation?”
“No I was born in Marietta, at their hospital over by the rodeo and fairgrounds” His srim and he turned his spoon over “But I never went home with my birth parents There was a complication at birth so my mother and I were both kept at the hospital for a week, and then my mother went home while I remained for another week, and then her mother came for me—supposedly because my mother was too weak to care for me”
Jet waited forelse “You’ve clearly learned the art of cliff-hangers”
He laughed once, deep and low “My grandmother took me with her back to Flathead Lake She raised me until I was four years old”
Jet tried to hide her shock “And you never saw your parents again?”
“Apparently my mother used to come see me once or twice a year She had a small cabin at Cherry Lake—” He broke off “Are you familiar with Cherry Lake?”
She shook her head
“It’s a little town on Flathead Lake, just south of Big Fork, before you come to Polson Apparently my mother would come to the cabin with the other children and sneak away to see me”
“Do you remember her?”
“Barely”
“What do you remember?”
“I’m not sure if I remember her, or the pictures I’ve seen of her She was very striking Long, dark hair, high cheekbones, hazel eyes with these incredible black eyelashes that were so dark and thick, I think they had to be fake” He paused “She was supposed to come back for me That’s the part I remember clearly I refused to be adopted, would never even consider it, because she was going to come for me”
He didn’t say anything else He didn’t have to Jet knew the rest His reithout a ho for this fantasy mother to claim him “I’m sorry”
His htened Creases fanned from his eyes “Me, too”
“And your father?” she asked, not certain she should probe but wanting to know the answer
“Who knows? He is part of that million dollar question”
“He wasn’t Native American?”
“No”