As much as I resent it, what Tanner said was right. Rachel doesn’t trust me to help her—to be with her when it’s more complicated than laughing and messing around. She doesn’t think I should want to be a part of Gracie’s life, so she won’t let me.As much as I try to understand why she thinks this, to be calm and levelheaded when I do talk to her, I can’t. I can’t pretend it’s okay that she doesn’t trust me. I can’t pretend it’s okay she won’t lean on me. I’m not her dad; I’m not going to sit by and let her live her life while I only get to be a part of it sometimes. I want it all—the good and the bad—and I’m ready to fight her for it.Still, I wait. I stay at work past my shift, making an inventoried list of the Jeep that interrupted Rachel and me earlier—noting down all the changes the guy is going to have to make if he has any hope of putting a lift on and actually keeping the car together at the same time. I help Griff close and clean up; Tanner is already long gone to shower and change for his shift at the bar he works at on campus.
