I am done with being this paranoid, weak, and long-suffering doormat.
I'm done with letting my sons be neglected by their father.
I am done.
So, I actually need to be done.
I need to demand better.
I need to actually move.
My finger hovers over the number before I press it, taking a deep breath as I bring the phone up to my ear.
"Imani? Hi, this is Wendy. I-I need to..." I take another deep breath and straighten my spine, my voice coming out clearer and stronger now.
"I need to book an appointment with you."
Chapter Five
Wendy
Diane and Emmett's home is beautiful.
It’s a large two-story, five bedroom modern farmhouse style nestled in a neighborhood in the heart of Mercy Ridge.
When the subdivision was still in its early stages, lots staked out and dirt roads not yet paved, Emmett was able to customize the house to Diane's exact wishes: a wide sunlit kitchen with enough counter space to cook a king's feast, a big master bathroom with a huge clawfoot tub, and a brick fireplace that bathes the living room in warmth.
Emmett made it happen for his wife because she asked him to. That's the Durant men's way.
Emmett’s late father, George, started Durant Auto Body with just two bays; it’s now grown to three shops across neighboring counties. Atlas runs the Mercy Ridge location as head mechanic and supports the other shops as needed.
The Durant name is known around this area for quality work at reasonable prices, which only attracts more business from around the state.
The growing success of the business allowed Emmett and Diane to give both sons a very fortunate upbringing, but Emmett always told the boys they didn't have to join the family business if they didn't want to.
"Find what makes you proud," Emmett told his boys.
So they did.
Atlas followed his father’s footsteps, but Silas enlisted in the military. When Atlas and I were sixteen, Silas came home on leave with a pregnant wife, Carrie, and it was the first time Ihad seen Silas truly smile.
Silas and Atlas were different in expressing their emotions, Atlas a lot more open than his brother.
That was something I always adored, even as a teenager. While my friends in class were trying to decode messages from the other boys, Atlas was never afraid to blurt out that he thought I was pretty and wanted to kiss me.
I guess it’s a Durant men’s thing around the women they love because around Carrie, Silas melted. He looked at her like she was a miracle, and he loved her so much.
When she died so suddenly—a brain aneurysm, not anything that could be prevented or predicted—he shattered. He was away on deployment when it happened, and had to spend more than a day traveling with the knowledge that his wife was gone.
To make matters worse, it was his fourteen-year-old daughter, Molly, who'd dialed 911 after finding her mother unresponsive.
Diane, Emmett, and I took care of everything so Atlas could be there for Silas, who seemed to be unraveling.
I took over the care of Molly and Jem, the girls clinging to their cousins and me for comfort. And my sweet boys were so wonderful, Liam and Noah playing with ten-year-old Jem to distract her, while Molly, broken in trauma and grief, attached herself to my side.
I always loved being Aunt Wendy to those sweet girls. I'll be forever grateful for my happy, healthy boys, but I've always harbored a soft, secret wish for a daughter—a dream I could never quite shake.
After being discharged, Silas moved to the next state over to be close to Carrie's parents. It's only about four hours away, and it was good for Carrie's parents to still have a daily tether to their daughter through her children.
