No One Needs to Know.

Equidistant between the state capital of Raleigh and the Virginia state line, the town of Aurora, North Carolina is hardly worth it’s dot on the map. Since Aurora’s founding a member of the Miles family has held the title of mayor. Cliff Miles was the first to be elected and the office has passed down from generation to generation all the way to Chance Miles, Aurora’s current mayor. The Miles family estate sits on a cliff side overlooking the ocean and employs a healthy portion of Aurora’s residents.

Chance Miles sat in a wicker rocking chair and sipped on a glass of amber liquid. His daughter breezed past him without so much as a glance, as she whispered into her phone.

Chance caught the arm of his housekeeper. “Who is she talking to?” 

May shrugged and chuckled, “When I asked her all she said was ‘No One’, before she ran off.”

Chance nodded. “Should I be worried?”

“She’s nineteen sir.” May answered, “Worry all you want but there ain’t nothing you can do about it.”

-----

Marshal Miles wobbled on his cane. He stood outside of his granddaughter's bedroom door and listened to her talk on the phone. 

“There you are Mr. Miles!” Marina appeared around the corner. “What are you doing up here?” 

Marshal blinked at her with no recollection. “Come on. Let's get you back to bed, okay?” She placed a hand on his arm. “You scared me, sir! One minute you were at the kitchen table and the next minute, poof! I was worried you’d hurt yourself.”

Marshal stopped in his tracks, jerking his nurse back with surprising strength. He gripped her wrist with his bony fingers. “Mr. Miles, what-”

“No One needs to know.” He said. These were the first words he’d spoken since his stroke. His eyes were as clear as she’d seen them in months and she shivered under their piercing gaze. 

“No One needs to know.” He said again and resumed walking down the hall, leaving Marina to follow behind in a daze.

-----

Every year the Miles family hosted a spring gala. Amber found it boring but she put on a show for her fathers sake- he was, after all, the mayor. Early in the evening she joined him as they walked around the room, saying hello, kissing cheeks, and shaking hands where needed. 

She caught a glimpse of Hunter while exchanging pleasantries with the town’s fire marshal and barely managed to keep her composure at the sight of him.

It was another hour before she could talk to him alone. They stood side by side, pretending to look at different items in the silent auction. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m doing a story on the election. My editor insisted I come. And I couldn’t pass up the chance to see you.” He touched her hand and let the fingers linger for a moment before pulling away. She looked around. No one was watching. 

“I miss you.” She told him, “I wish we could see each other more, it’s just...”

“Amber, I understand. You don’t have to apologize.”

She smiled up at him and then quickly looked around again. This time she caught the eye of her father. She thrust her hand towards Hunter, gave him a firm shake, and made a quick exit.

“I’ll call you tonight.” He whispered after her. 

She tried to find her father but he was lost in the crowd. She didn’t see him for the rest of the evening.

-----

The next morning Amber found her father and grandfather seated in the dining room. “Morning daddy. Morning granddad.” She said, giving them each a kiss on the cheek.

Her father was cold and refused to look up from his newspaper. 

“Anything interesting?” She asked as she blew the steam off of a cup of fresh coffee and took a tentative sip.

“You were talking to Hunter Stone last night.”

“I meant in the paper...”

He set it aside. “Why?”

She sighed. “We were just talking. I didn’t say anything about the election, I swear. He didn't even ask.”

Chance scoffed. “I doubt that. Stay away from that boy.”

“Why do you hate him so much?” Amber snapped. 

“He’s a reporter. He can’t be trusted.” 

Amber shook her head. “No, that’s just your excuse. You’ve always hated him. Why?”

Chance pushed back his chair. “Enough, Amber. Just stay away from him.” He left without another word.

As the door to the dining room swung closed Marshal’s head snapped up, suddenly clear eyed. “Granddad?” Amber said.

“No One needs to know.”

-----

“What did he say, exactly?”

“He said ‘no one needs to know’.’' Amber stood in front of her fathers mahogany desk and chewed at her fingernails. Marshal sat in a chair by the window, looking but no longer seeing. Saliva dribbled from the corner of his mouth.

Chance steepled his fingers and touched them to his lips. “What else did he tell you?”

“Nothing. He disappeared right after that, like it never happened. Why did he say that? What does that mean?”

“It doesn’t mean anything, Amber.” He said, “He’s a sick old man. It’s nonsense.” Chance saw her hurt expression and softened his tone. “No one wants your granddad back to his old self more than I do, believe me.” He said, “But that isn’t going to happen.”

There came a soft knock on the door. “Yes?” Chance said.

May poked her head in. “Sorry to interrupt. Amber, your phone is ringing.”

Chance raised an eyebrow but Amber left the room before he could ask her anything. He went back to work on the papers in front of him.

“No One needs to know.”

Chance looked up. Marshal was still looking out the window. Chance walked around the desk and knelt down in front of his father. “What did you say?”

No answer. He shook his head, perplexed, and turned away.

“No One needs to know.” Chance whipped around and this time he found his father looking at him. Seeing him. “No One needs to know.”

“Shut up.” Chance hissed. He grabbed his fathers bony wrist. “Do you hear me old man? Shut up!”

Marshal's eyes remained sharp for another minute before fading. Chance watched his father disappear. He righted himself and combed the hair off his forehead. 

He returned to the work on his desk but found himself unable to focus on budget proposals. His eyes constantly wandered up to his once again vegetative father and he thought, how do I fix this?

-----

Amber lay on her stomach across her bed and played with the frayed strings of her blanket. 

“Your father is going to freak out.” Hunter Stone said on the other end of the phone.

“Let him.” She said, “We’re both adults, he can’t do anything.”

“He can cut you off.” He said. Always the realist.

“I’m his only child, he wouldn’t do that.”

“Why does he hate me so much?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never known.”

“I mean, I remember being five years old and scared out of my mind of the man. I used to think he wanted to kill me. He’s never said anything to you?”

She shook her head even though he couldn’t see. “No. Nothing but ‘stay away from Hunter Stone’.”

“Maybe it’s because of my mom.”

Amber sat upright. “Hunter, don't say that. How could you think that?”

“Well, I don’t know. She died the same day as your mom. In the same house. Maybe I bring up bad memories for the guy.” Amber thought about the dark look her father got in his eyes whenever someone talked about the Stone’s. “I’m sorry,” Hunter said, “I shouldn’t have mentioned your mom.”

“It’s okay. I don’t know why my father doesn’t like you but it doesn’t matter. I like you. And it’s time to tell people. Starting with my family. I’ll tell him tonight.”

-----

Marina found Marshal outside of his granddaughter's bedroom door once again. She helped him into his wheelchair and took him outside for a walk. She pushed him along the dirt path through the garden. On the other side of the vegetable beds is a circular path lined with Lipan trees and a single White Oak with a wooden bench beneath it. Marina parked Marshal’s wheelchair in the shade and took out her crochet.

“No One needs to know.” 

“Jesus!” Marina's hands jerked and she dropped her yarn and needle into the dirt. She put a hand over her chest, felt her racing heart. “Jesus, Mr. Miles, you scared me.” She fanned her face as her heart beat slowed.

He looked at her. “No One needs to know.” He said again.

“Alright Mr. Miles, alright. Let’s head back and get you to bed.” She bent to retrieve her crochet.

“You have to listen to me.” Marina gasped when he seized her wrist.

“What did...”

“Listen to me.” 

And she did so with an ever growing pit in her stomach.

-----

The Miles family sat at the dining room table in silence. 

Marshal sat across from Amber with an untouched plate in front of him. She wondered what he would have to say about the announcement she would be making tonight. He stared at his plate, his eyes miles away.

At the head of the table, Chance picked at his food, not really eating. He furrowed his brow and drummed his fingers against the table the way he tended to do when he was trying to work out a problem. 

Amber’s heart thumped and she had to swallow down the lump in her throat. 

“Everything okay, daddy?” She asked, desperate to break the silence.

“Yes, fine.” The room grew so quiet again that Amber could hear the grandfather clock in the hallway ticking through the door.

“Anything new with the election?”

Chance shook his head but didn’t speak. His eyes seemed as far away as Marshal’s.

Amber steeled herself. “Daddy, I want to talk to you about Hunter Stone.”

Chance’s eyes shot up. “What?” He said, “What about him?” Amber had expected an outburst at the name but her father wasn’t angry, he seemed afraid. 

“N-nothing, I just-” She took a breath. “What is it about him, daddy?”

Now the anger came, creeping into his face with a down turned mouth and hard eyes. “I told you not to speak of him again.” He looked away.

“No.” She said, feeling a rush of bravery course through her bones. “I want to know what it is. I deserve to know! Look at me! Is it mom? Is that wh-”

She didn’t see the slap coming and her head whipped to the side with the force of it. She caressed her stinging cheek. Tears pricked in her eyes. It wasn’t the first time he’d slapped her but it was certainly the most vicious one she’d received.

“No One needs to know.” They both turned to meet Marshal’s sharp eyes. “No One needs to know.”

“Enough!” Chance grabbed Marshal's wrist and twisted it. Marshal cried out in pain, a frail old man again.

“Daddy! Stop it!” Amber screamed. She rushed to her granddad, put a hand on her fathers wrist. 

Chance kept his grip. “Enough of this.” He looked back and forth between Amber and Marshal. “I don’t want to hear another word.” He threw his fathers arm aside and stood to leave.

Amber shut her eyes. “Hunter and I are dating.”

Chance stopped cold. He clenched his fists. Amber was afraid that he would turn around and hit her again, with a closed fist this time, but he didn’t move.

“Daddy?” She reached for him but he jerked out of her grip.

“Don’t touch me.” He hissed and left the room without looking at her.

-----

Marshal Miles died that evening.

-----

Hunter’s hands were cold and clammy. He wiped them on his pants. 

Chance sat behind his desk and watched Hunter enter with cold eyes. This was the first time he’d ever been alone with the boy. Hunter shivered under his gaze.

“Thank you for meeting with me.” Hunter extended his hand which Chance regarded with bored eyes. He made no move to shake hands. Hunter’s cheeks burned. “I heard about your father, sir. I’m sorry for your loss.” Hunter lowered himself into the chair.

“Don’t sit.” Chance said and Hunter stopped, hovering above the seat for a moment before standing again. 

“Sir, I know that you-”

“Stop talking.” Chance said. “This is what’s going to happen, Hunter. After you leave my office today you’re going to call my daughter and end it. Call, you got that? You won't see her again.”

“I-”

“Then,” Chance continued, “You will go home, pack up your things, and leave this town.”

Hunter’s mouth hung open. “I’m not doing that.” He said at last, “Why would I-”

“Because if you don’t I will take everything.” Chance said. “You’ll wake up tomorrow with a pink slip, an eviction notice, and a mysteriously empty bank account. And you still won’t be able to see my daughter. I will make your life here a living hell. You’ll be begging to leave. If, however, you do what I tell you, then you’ll have an apartment, a car, and a new job waiting for you in San Francisco.”

Hunter’s ears buzzed, he felt like they were full of water. “What if I leave and take Amber with me?”

Chance stood up, slow and calm. “Then I will hunt you down and kill you.”

Looking into his eyes Hunter felt certain that his childhood fears of being murdered by Chance Miles were not far fetched. “Why?” He asked, defeated.

“Because I want you as far away from my town, my family, and my daughter, as you can be. Here.” Chance removed an envelope from his desk drawer. “To sweeten the pot.” Inside the envelope was a one way plane ticket and a check for ten thousand dollars. 

“Why are you giving me this?” Hunter asked.

“The offer expires soon, Hunter, so what’ll it be?”

“Why do you hate me? I have to know. Was it my mother?”

Chance slammed a fist down on his desk. Hunter flinched. “Ally Stone was a pathetic alcoholic whore. She’s dead because she couldn’t stand not being the center of attention. She was a terrible employee and an even worse mother. I never wanted anything to do with her and I don’t want anything to do with her child.” Chance planted his hands and leaned across the desk. “Take your money and get out.”

-----

Hunter sat on the edge of the bed in his apartment in San Francisco, the letter shook in his hand. He read it again.

Dear Hunter Stone,

You don’t know me but my name is Marina Pool. I used to be a nurse for Marshal Miles. I left Aurora as soon as I could. I told people that I needed a change of scenery but the truth is that I was afraid of what Chance Miles would do to me if he found out what I know. I wasn’t sure if I should tell you or not but I think you deserve to know the truth. I hope that was the right decision and I’m sorry if I was wrong...

-----

Chance paced back and forth in front of the pool and cried. He knew he should be back at the house with his family, with his newborn daughter, but all he could think about was his dead wife. He wanted to be alone. But then he saw the post-it on his desk, scribbled in red ink.

Meet me tonight xoxo 

-A

“Hi baby.” Ally stood in front of him. She was still dressed in her maids uniform but had taken down her hair. It tumbled around her shoulders. 

He pulled the note from his pocket and showed it to her. “What the hell is this?”

“I just wanted to see you.”

“Today?” He asked, “Now?”

“I know, I know.” She said, “I know the baby was born today and I shouldn’t be pulling you away from them but I missed you.”

She doesn’t know about Grace. The logical part of Chance knew that he couldn’t be angry with Ally for what she didn’t know. But the grief overpowered everything.

“Does she look like him?” Ally asked, pulling Chance from his thoughts.

“What?” He asked.

“The baby. Does she look like her brother?”

Chance shuddered. The fling with Ally Stone was a mistake, he’d always known that. He should have ended it with her after she got pregnant. It would have been cleaner. But the truth is that being with Ally was easy and carefree, even after she’d had the baby. So Chance stayed with her. He needed to be able to blow off steam. He needed Ally. 

Now his wife was dead and Ally was here. He felt sick just looking at her.

“No, she doesn’t look like him.” He spit. “She looks like her mother.” 

“Let me bring him here.” She said, “Let him meet his baby sister. Please, Chance.” She reached for him and caressed his cheek. “He’s your son.”

He grabbed her wrist and twisted her away from him.

“He is no one.”

She lunged for him. “I’ll call a reporter!” She screamed, “I’ll tell everyone!” He shoved her away but she kept coming back.

Chance slapped her. Hard. The pool swallowed her whole.

His body jerked into action. He reached forward for her, meaning to pull her out but...

He stopped short. She flailed against the pool tarp. It’s like quicksand, he marveled, the harder she fights, the more she sinks. Eventually the flapping of the tarp slowed to a stop.

He left her there.

His father watched him from the gate. He’d seen the whole thing. 

Chance’s heart fell into his stomach. “Dad.” He said, “Dad, I-”

Marshal held a hand up to stop him. “It’s okay son. No one needs to know.”