Page 48 of Tiger's Voyage

Kishan threw a rock against a tree which thumped before falling to the soft ground. “I’m pretty sure I can figure out why.”

“Right,” I went on. “But I really enjoyed the time I spent withyou.”

“Kells, stop. You don’t have to explain anything. You wanted to be with him, so you went. End of story. You haven’t made any promises to me, and you don’t have to feel guilty about it. If I got my hopes up, it was my own fault, not yours. I read too much into your actions.”

“What do you mean? What actions?”

“When you threw your lantern into the fire and smiled at me, I thought maybe, just maybe, it meant you were considering me.”

“That’s true, sort of. I didn’t float my lantern on the water because I know that the man I’m going to end up with is here.”

“Right, Ren.”

“Ihopeit will be. We talked last night, and he says he loves me. He wants to try to be with me again.”

“So you’re back together?”

“As much as wecanbe. And Iwasthinking about him when I threw the lantern. But I was also thinking of you.”

“Thinking of me how?”

I sighed and drew my knees up. “I guess I thought of you because I know that if, for some reason, I can’t be with Ren that I would choose you.”

“So I’m your runner-up? Your backup plan?”

“I wasn’t thinking of it like that. You’re not a second choice, or a lesser choice, or a wrong choice. You’re a different choice. I guess it’s not so much that I felt as sure of the man as I felt sure of this family. I belong here. I’m a part of you.”

He grunted. “That much is true. If Ren lets you go, I sure as hell wouldn’t let you walk away.”

I nodded. “I guess I just felt a strong conviction that I belong with the tigers.”

“You belongtothe tigers.” Kishan put his arm around me and pulled me closer.

“I don’t know how all this is going to play out. I promised you a happy ending once, and I’m still hoping we all get one.”

“I don’t think that’s possible, but thanks for not dashing all my hope.”

“I’m not sure I did you any favors.”

“You did. You committed yourself to us. No matter what happens, you belong to Ren and me. I’ll always have you around, and that’s nice to know.”

“And I know I’ll always have you two.”

I nestled my head on his chest, winced, and rubbed my neck.

“I slept wrong last night.”

“I can massage it for you.”

“Ren will be mad. He wants you to keep your hands off.”

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Turn around.”

After a thorough neck massage, I wandered back to the house to find Ren waiting for me in the library. True to his word, he morphed to a tiger and made himself comfortable on my lap. I’d made him promise no tiger kisses, but he still licked my arm anyway. I stroked his back and read poetry to him while he dozed on and off.

He stayed a tiger, even following Kishan and me into the theater room to watch a movie later that evening. I sat on the floor next to him and fed him popcorn, letting him lick the buttery snack from my palm. Then I rested my head on Kishan’s knee and fell asleep.

When I woke in the middle of the night, I was lying on my bed covered with my grandma’s quilt. I kicked off the blanket in the pitchblack room and swung my legs over the side of the bed. My feet struck a furry body on the floor.