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Macy felt the heat rising to her cheeks, certain that red splotches rose through her porcelain skin and betrayed her emotions to the shirtless man in the doorway. Chiseled and tan, with sharp features, dreamy eyes, and close-cropped blonde hair, the man before her commanded her attention. Wes worked hard for his muscles, but the college-aged kid in front of her boasted the body of a man. O.M.G. Was she cheating on Wes?
“Um. Hi. You must be, um... Tanner?” she asked.
A perfect smile spread across his face, cordial and welcoming even as sadness tinged his eyes. Macy expected there would be. When her mom asked her to deliver food to the survivors of an attack, she resisted at first, but she was starting to see an upside to this visit.
“That’s me,” he said. “And you are?”
He could talk? Her mom had made it very clear that only the girl spoke. Evidently, Macy could expect a different level of interaction. “Oh. Right. I’m Macy. Macy Donner. You met my mom, Shandi. She wanted me to bring you her condolences. And some burgers. She would have come herself, but she’s in the hospital with her new boyfriend right now.”
Tanner’s smile somehow got even bigger as the sadness briefly melted away. “Mikey’s?”
She thrust the greasy bag toward him. “Yeah. It’s kind of the only choice around here.”
“Awesome.”
He took the bag and disappeared into the motel room, leaving the door wide open. Macy felt uncertain as to whether he meant to invite her in, or if he just loved Mikey’s burgers that much. She stood in the doorway, not quite sure what to do, until a plain, brown-haired girl came around the corner. The girl’s watery, bloodshot eyes surveyed Macy from head to toe, then relaxed.
“Don’t mind Tanner. Sometimes he thinks with his stomach.” She threw a brief glance at Tanner. “I’m Miriam. Come on in.”
Macy stepped cautiously into the room until she could see the entirety of it. Despite living her whole life in town, she had never had an occasion to visit the Rose Valley Motor Inn. The shabby room sagged under the weight of age, just like she would have expected. Tanner dumped the contents of the bag onto one of the two queen-sized beds, then quickly got to work on his greasy double-meat burger.
Covered in a collection of knives and guns, Miriam’s bed had no room for food. Sudden panic surged in Macy, and she froze.
Miriam sensed the unease. “Oh. This must look strange. I’m just cataloging my equipment. Nothing to worry about. Just part of the job.”
That must have been some crazy job. Macy had the vague notion that Miriam and Tanner traveled around looking for monsters, so it kind of made sense that they would have weapons. But seeing such a variety invoked an overwhelming sense of discomfort. Some of Macy’s friends took a passing interest in firearms, but the topic seemed more dangerous than exciting to her.
Macy decided to try and make small-talk. “So, are you guys in college?”
Tanner spoke through a mouthful of tater tots. “Yep. Good ol’ Mizzou.”
Macy had never heard of it before. “Oh. Where is that?”
Miriam laughed gently as she picked a knife up and polished it with a nearby cloth. “Mizzou is the colloquial term for The University of Missouri.”
Colloquial. Macy played with the word in her mind, deciding that it must be a fancy college word meaning nickname. Her decision on a university hung over her as an important To-Do item. “Is it a good school?”
“Well, it’s the best in Missouri. Not sure if that makes it good or not. Missouri isn’t the most metropolitan place. But we like it well enough. It’s in the SEC, so that means it has a respected football team. Does anything else matter?” Miriam said with a hint of sarcasm.
“Oh. Like Texas A&M,” Macy commented.
Tanner swallowed a bite of burger. “Yep. Except Mizzou is in the east, so they don’t have to play Alabama all the time.”
Macy beamed with pride that her forced knowledge of football matters would serve her well even outside of her courtship with Wes. “That must be nice. Alabama is unstoppable.”
Tanner smiled with a wink and a nod before taking another bite. He still didn’t have a shirt on, which Macy found incredibly distracting. What red-blooded American girl could be expected to carry on a conversation with his rippling biceps stealing her attention?
Miriam brought Macy back to the conversation. “You’re in high school, I presume? What year?”
“Senior.”
“Ah. So, time to find a college, huh? I don’t know if my advice is worth anything, but get as far away from here as you can. If you stay close by, you’ll never escape. Trust me on that.” Miriam’s voice was clear with conviction.
To attend any university, she would have to leave Rose Valley behind, but she hadn’t really considered looking out of state. Perhaps going so far away would provide some benefit. Macy felt the weight of Rose Valley pressing down on her every day. She would miss her parents, but getting far away from her insular, tiny life sounded wonderful.
Macy suddenly heard the voice of her mom reverberate through her brain, reminding her she had been sent on a mission of emotional support. “Sorry about your brother. If there’s anything we can do for you, just let us know.”
Tanner’s chewing slowed, and Miriam paused her cleaning before answering. Her voice lowered. “Thanks. We really appreciate Ms. Shandi. You have a good mom.”
Macy nodded. “Yeah. She’s pretty great.”
“Sometimes bad things happen.” Tanner remarked from the bed. “We just have to be strong. Carry on, ya know?”
“Or get revenge,” Miriam said softly while staring at one of her guns.
Tanner put his burger down, stood up next to Miriam and began rubbing her back. “Only if we can’t save him, though, right?”
Miriam looked up at Tanner, taking a few beats to answer. “Right. Of course. Just so long as he doesn’t turn him into a carnival sideshow.”
Macy felt uncomfortable in the tenseness of the moment. Her parent’s divorce certainly stung, but that seemed inconsequential next to the loss of a brother. Though she had no siblings, Macy could imagine how terrible Miriam must have felt, and she worried that all of the weapons and training might lead to something dangerous.
Tanner turned towards Macy and flashed her his gorgeous smile. “Thanks for the burgers, Macy Donner.”
“Uh. Sure thing.” She started towards the door. “Oh, let me give you my number. In case you need something.”
Her cheeks flushed again as she realized what she had just done. Smooth, Macy. Very smooth.
Tanner walked across the room, fetched a phone from the small table in the corner, and tossed it at her. She thankfully caught it and started punching in her number. She typed her name into the contact entry, vaguely aware of him crossing over to her to stand by her side. Her pulse increased, and she forced herself to think of Wes.
Tanner leaned over. “You can just put Cutie in there for the name.”
“Tanner, behave,” Miriam said from deeper within the room.
Macy couldn’t take any further embarrassment. She just awkwardly handed him his phone without finishing her name, muttered a good night, and disappeared into the warm Rose Valley air.
