As they returned to the bedroom, she tried to come up with a good way to ask about the local adoption agency. She figured it was the best place to start because her mom may have tried to give her up for adoption before leaving her at the orphanage. She didn’t necessarily want him to know why she was in town, but she was too tired to think of anything other than thetruth.
“If you need anything, Madison can get it. But I’ll be around too, you know, in case you need anything,” hestammered.
“Actually, there is something I need,”shesaid.
“Sure,” he said as he perked up. “What can I doforyou?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m looking for my birthmother.”
“Were you adopted?” heasked.
“No.” She hesitated, embarrassed by what she was about to say. “It’s…well…”
“Take your time.” He gestured toward an overstuffed chair. “Mind ifIsit?”
“Sure.” She perched on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry, this is harder to say than I thought itwouldbe.”
“I’m done with work for today. I have all night,” he said with a softsmile.
Something about the gentleness and compassion in his face cut through her reluctance to tell him thetruth.
“When I was a baby, I was abandoned at an orphanage,” she began. She watched his face for any sign of disgust, but only found curiosity. “The only thing I had with me was a postcard from WestYellowstone.”
She unzipped her luggage and retrieved the old postcard. When he reached for it, she handed ittohim.
“Looks like it’s from the seventies,”hesaid.
“Do you know a lot about postcards?” she asked. A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of hermouth.
“I helped categorize a huge collection of postcards last summer after the oldest woman in town passed away. She’d been a resident of West Yellowstone her entire life and had amassed boxes and boxesofthem.”
“What did you do with them when you were done?” sheasked.
“They were gifted to the University of Montana’s special archives collection. They’re sitting in storage at the Bozeman campus until a graduate student decides to use them for their dissertation.” He handeditback.
“I guess I’m wondering if there’s a way I can use this to track down my birth mother.” She turned the postcard over in her hand. “I have some questionsforher.”
“I can imagine,” he said. When she looked up, he brushed a hand over his face. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. I onlymeant—”
“It’s okay. I know what you meant. I’m prepared for anything I might find. Clearly she didn’t want me, but I need information from her. So as long as she’ll tell me what I need to know, then I’ll be on my way. If she doesn’t want me in her life, I can respect that,”shesaid.
“What if you can’t find her?” heasked.
A flood of icy dread coursed through her belly. If she couldn’t find her birth mother, she’d never get the answers she needed about how she could turn into a bear. And she’d never learn how to control the transformation. For all she knew, it could happen again at any time. She suspected that it would only happen if she was in mortal danger, but she sure as hell wanted to confirm it with someone whomightknow.
“Well, as far as I know, we’ve never had an adoption agency. I’m not really sure where to start, but there’s an older man in town who practices family law. He might be able to help you. Although, if you were abandoned, you probably never went through the courtsystem.”
“I don’t have anywhere else to start. I’m grasping at straws as it is.” She choked out the last few words as tears formed inhereyes.
Hank crossed the room and sat on the bed next to her. “Hey, don’t cry. I can take you over to the lawyer’s tomorrow and we’ll see what we canfindout.”
“We?”
“I’d be happy to help.” He smiled before quickly adding, “But, only if you want me to, ofcourse.”
She didn’t know anything about him other than his relationship to Madison as her brother-in-law. Apparently six brothers lived on the ranch together, some with wives and fiancées, but other than that, she didn’t know anythingabouthim.
However, the thought of going to the lawyer alone terrified her. What if she got there and he didn’t know anything? What if hedidknow something, but wouldn’t tell her because of confidentiality laws? Even though she didn’t know Hank at all, he seemed nice enough. It wasn’t like he was a complete stranger. He was one of the brothers who owned the ranch, and from what she understood, they’d all grown up here, so maybe it was worth having him comealong.
