The Rancher's Request
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Stella Bagwell
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Harlequin😌 Second Chances
HarlequinChapter One
Matt Sanchez hated weddings. In his opinion, the sentimental ceremonies were only a reminder of everything that could go wrong in a person’s life and normally he made a point to steer clear of any social function with a white dress, tossed rice and weeping women. But the wedding of Raine Ketchum and Neil Rankin was one he couldn’t avoid. The bride was his cousin and he loved her. Even if he would have preferred to saddle up his favorite horse and ride to the far end of the Sandbur Ranch, he couldn’t miss the most important day of her life.
Thankfully, the exchange of vows had taken place more than an hour ago and now the Saddler house, the original ranch house on the Sandbur, was brimming with guests and relatives, some of whom had traveled all the way from New Mexico. Wedding cake was still being served and champagne, beer and punch were flowing like the San Antonio River after a spring flood.
In the great room, the rugs had been rolled back and the wooden floor sprinkled with cornmeal to make boots slide gracefully as couples danced to a four-piece band. Music, laughter and loud conversations collided, then ricocheted off the wood-beamed ceilings before they filled every nook and corner of the house.
At any other time, the reception would have been held outside, beneath the live oaks that graced the backyard. But February weather in South Texas could be fickle. Normally it was splendid with bright sunshine and temperatures just mild enough to make a person forget the long, blistering heat of the past seven months. Even so, there were occasions that northerners blew through and Matt’s Aunt Geraldine, who’d helped Raine with all the wedding plans, hadn’t wanted to brave the chance of having cold or wet guests.
As for Matt, he’d be happy just to find some quiet, out-of-the-way space to park his boots until all the whooping and hollering died down and he could go back to being the general manager of the Sandbur.
“What’s the matter, Matt? You look like you’re ready to bolt for higher ground!”
The question came from his cousin Lex who’d just strolled off the dance floor after a fast twirl with an energetic redhead. Of all his family members, Lex was probably the most sociable. With his tall blond looks, women flocked to him like snow geese flocked to South Texas in winter.
“It’s getting too loud in here,” Matt replied in a raised voice so that Lex could hear. “Our new cousins from New Mexico are going to think we’re a raucous bunch.”
The other man laughed. “We are a bunch of loud Texans, cuz. And from what I can see, our new family members are thoroughly enjoying themselves.”
Not more than a month had passed since he’d learned that Raine’s mother, Darla, had actually been married to a member of the Ketchum family from New Mexico. Everyone here on the ranch had been shocked to learn they had a boatload of cousins they’d never known about, and for the past few days they had all been getting acquainted. Matt was happy about his new relatives, yet he’d be even happier, he realized, once this shindig was over and quiet returned to the Sandbur.
With a short snort, Matt dug at the tie knotted at his throat. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d worn a suit and if he had his way it was going to be a hell of a lot longer before he wore another one. He felt like a green horse that was cinched tight and left to paw with frustration at the saddling post.
“Well, I must be getting old,” he commented gruffly. “All this merrymaking is getting on my nerves.”
The other man rolled his eyes. “Hell’s bells, you’re only thirty-nine, Matt. You should be dancing with some of these beautiful women here this afternoon. Who knows, you might get lucky and one of them will seduce you. God knows you’d never take the initiative.”
If anyone else had said such a thing to him, he’d give him a mouthful of knuckles. But Lex was like a brother, so he simply glowered at the other man.
“I don’t need a woman to dance with—or anything else.”
Lex shot him a disgusted look. “Yeah. How many times have I heard that before?”
Fortunately for Matt, another woman, a brunette this time, approached the two of them and wrapped an arm around Lex’s. “C’mon, good lookin’,” she said to him with a cheeky grin. “You two can talk cattle tomorrow. I’ve been waiting for a dance!”
Matt watched the pair glide off into a quick two-step, then decided he’d had enough. It wasn’t that he was antisocial. He liked people in general. But he’d never been comfortable with merrymaking. Now that his sweet Erica was gone, he wouldn’t know how to take another woman into his arms and waltz her around the dance floor. It just wasn’t in him.
If he could make it to the kitchen for a cup of coffee, then slip outside without anyone noticing, he could wait out this reception in peace, Matt thought, as he left the loud din in the great room.
Even the hallways and connecting rooms were packed with people gathered together in loose groups while others were simply wandering around with drinks in their hands. He worked his way through the human jumble until he reached the kitchen, only to find it was just as chaotic as the rest of the house.
Scores of servants, most of them hired only for the occasion, were dealing with beverages, food and dirty dishes. He stopped just inside the room and looked around for the familiar face of Cook, the old woman who’d been the ramrod of the Sandbur kitchen for more years than he’d been alive. She was in her seventies now, but she could work rings around a woman half her age. Matt expected to find her slinging hash during this hectic celebration, so it was a surprise to see her seated at a worktable, a cup of coffee clutched in her bony hands.
Well, the old woman must finally be feeling her age, Matt thought, as he made his way over to the cabinet. The idea bothered him. She was like a grandmother to him and all his cousins. He didn’t want to imagine the ranch without her.
As he gathered up a cup and filled it from a huge silver coffee urn, he could hear her saying to someone, “Well now, I never was interested in money. That’s not to say I don’t like the stuff. Just never had much use for it. I got everything I need right here on the ranch. I don’t need to go around digging for treasure. The Saddler and Sanchez families already treat me like a queen.”
“I’m sure they do,” a younger female voice replied. “But it would be exciting, wouldn’t it, if a person did happen to find money buried on the ranch? I’ve heard the amount might be as high as a million dollars.”
His ears wide-open now, Matt slowly stirred a dollop of cream into his coffee while he waited for Cook’s response. It came with a snort and he turned around to see she was leaning across the table, her head tilted toward a young woman he’d never seen before. She had light blond hair that was twisted atop her head into a mass of cascading curls. Rhinestones adorned her slender neck and the skinny straps of her dark blue velvet dress. Her skin was shell-pink, her features perfectly etched. Without question, she was a very beautiful woman. Except for her nose, he thought. It appeared to Matt that she was trying to stick it in places where she had no right.
“Bah!” Cook exclaimed with a wave of her hand. “Miss Sara had more money than that before Nate died. But I don’t believe she buried any of it. Why would she? It’s a silly notion if you ask me.”
“Do you know anything about her husband’s death?” the blonde asked. “There’ve been rumors for years—”
“And that’s all they are,” Matt quickly interrupted as he stepped forward to where the two women were sitting. “Just rumors.”
The blonde looked up at him, her pretty rose-colored lips forming a perfect O. Across from her, Cook said, “Matt, this is Miss Juliet Madsen. She works for the newspaper in Goliad. Isn’t that somethin’?”
It was something all right, he thought grimly. His eyes narrowed skeptically on the woman’s face. “I’m Matt Sanchez, Miss Juliet. And I think you and I need to have a talk. Would you excuse us, Cook?”
“Sure. I need to get back to work anyway,” the old cook said.
His eyes still on the nosy guest, Matt placed his hand on Cook’s shoulder. “No. You stay put. Finish your coffee and rest. This won’t take long anyway.”
Juliet warily rose to her feet and followed the man through the busy kitchen and out the back door. Along the way, her heart was pounding as she eyed the man’s long legs, wide expanse of shoulders, and black hair inching over the back of his collar. She’d noticed him before, during the wedding ceremony. Actually, she’d more than noticed. Once she’d spotted him among the groomsmen, she’d hardly been able to observe anything else about the wedding. His hard looks were striking; so much so that just looking at him sent electrical shivers down her spine. Later, she’d learned he was a part of the wedding family, the eldest son of Elizabeth and Mingo Sanchez.
Matt shut the door behind them and Juliet looked around to see they were on a backyard patio that was partially covered with an arbor. Far above the slatted wood and drooping honeysuckle vine, a weak afternoon sun was trying to shove its way through the overcast skies.
Chilly air brushed her exposed skin and she wrapped her arms protectively around herself as she waited for him to speak.
“First of all, I don’t know who invited you here,” he began, “but that’s really beside the point. You—”
“What is the point, Mr. Sanchez?” she quickly interrupted, thinking it would be better to go on the offensive before he took the upper hand. “Geraldine Saddler kindly invited me to the wedding so that I could cover the event for the Fannin Review. You find something wrong with that?”
He jammed his hands in his trouser pockets as he stepped toward her and Juliet was glad. He had big hands; the kind that wouldn’t let you forget that you’d been touched. Not that he would ever do such a thing to her, but from the furious look on his face, she wasn’t sure what might be going through his mind.
“No,” he said in a low, smooth voice. “I don’t find anything wrong with you taking down wedding details. But that’s not what I overheard you discussing with Cook.”
Hot color stung her cheeks. So she’d been caught. What could she say that wouldn’t make her appear like an indifferent, nosy reporter?
She drew in a bracing breath and let it out. “I was only chatting with the woman and the rumor as you call it—about the buried treasure on this ranch—just happened to come up.”
His nostrils flared like a winded horse and his green eyes narrowed dangerously on Juliet’s face. In all her twenty-five years, she had never faced such a man before. She had to fight the urge to race back into the house and run for cover.
“I’m sure the subject just came up out of the blue,” he quipped with sarcasm.
She licked her lips and tried not to let her shivers turn violent. “Well, not exactly, but I was just speaking to her about the ranch—off the record, of course.”
He took another step toward her and Juliet found her eyes frozen to his hard features: the square jaw, strong, dented chin and chiseled lips that were presently pressed into a tough, menacing line. This man wasn’t exactly handsome, she decided, but he was damned sexy. Dangerously so.
“Of course,” he said mockingly.
He might as well be touching her, she thought, as she felt his eyes sweep up and down her body. He’d certainly already undressed her with his visual assault.
“Is there anything wrong with talking about the legend of Sara Ketchum’s money?”
“Sara Ketchum just happened to be my grandmother. I don’t want her memory sullied by some tawdry story in the pages of the Fannin Review.”
She tried to look as innocent as possible. After all, she’d not gotten any sort of information out of Cook, and even if she had, Juliet wasn’t so sure she would use it. She’d already warned her editor that she didn’t like prying into people’s personal lives. For one thing, it caused incidents just like this.
“So you think that’s what I was doing?” she asked carefully. “Trying to dig up information for the newspaper?”
“What else?”
The woman didn’t answer, but there was really no need, Matt decided. She looked guilty as hell. Beautiful, but guilty.
She shrugged one bare, elegant shoulder and he realized with all the skin she was showing in that skimpy dress, she was probably freezing. His eyes skittered once again over the plunging neckline and exposed cleavage of her breasts, then purposely zeroed back on her face. She wasn’t dressed all that differently than many of the other female guests roaming around the ranch house, but she damned sure looked different, he thought. Her tall, voluptuous figure was enough to send a man’s blood pressure skyrocketing.
“Maybe I was just personally interested,” she suggested coolly.
Matt snorted. From the sound of her voice, she was from North Texas. She had that certain twang that separated her from the Southern folks of the state. And she wasn’t interested in his family; she was interested in her job.
“Where are you from?” he asked bluntly.
Her brows lifted. “Why, I live in Goliad.”
Goliad was only about twenty minutes to the east of the Sandbur. He slowly shook his head. “You’re not a native around here.”
“No. Actually, I’m from Dallas. I moved from there a few months ago when I came to work for the Fannin Review.”
“Then someone should have told you that the folks down here don’t appreciate anyone taking advantage of their hospitality.”
She sucked in an outraged breath. “That’s not—”
“Don’t bother to deny it, Miss Madsen. We both know what you were trying to do and I’m telling you flatly, right now, that there is no story here. And even if there were, I wouldn’t let you get anywhere near it. Understand?”
Her nostrils pinched together as she stared angrily at him. “I don’t really know what your position is on this ranch, but I’ve had just about enough of your pious attitude. I haven’t committed any crime here. According to a lot of folks in Goliad, it’s common knowledge that Nate and Sara Ketchum, the former owners of this ranch had a—well, let’s just call it a colorful relationship. And since Nate’s murder was never solved, it’s still of local interest.”
“That’s what you think,” he quipped.
“No, that’s what my editor thinks. He believes the whole issue would make a good story for the paper. I tried to deter him from the idea, but he insisted I ask as many questions as possible.” She shook her head in a regretful way. “I’m sorry. I was only trying to hang on to my job.”
He glanced away from her pained expression. “Hell of a way to do it.”
Juliet bristled all over again. Maybe in his eyes she had been in the wrong, but he could be a little more understanding. Somehow she figured this hard man didn’t know the meaning of the word.
“What would you know about needing a job?” she asked. “Looks to me like you were born into riches.”
Why was it so easy for outsiders to look around the Sandbur and think that the ranch simply made itself, he wondered. Outsiders could never imagine the long, back-breaking labor that was put into this estate to keep it one of the top cattle ranches in Texas. But then, he couldn’t expect this woman to understand. She’d probably spent most of her young life being educated in a private school in Dallas. He seriously doubted she’d ever had those manicured hands in a sink of dirty dishwater.
“You don’t exactly look like you’ve just stepped out of the ghetto, Miss Madsen. But as for me, I’ve worked for everything I own.”
Her chin lifted as she stared at him with angry disbelief. “And you think I haven’t?”
His expression turned mocking as his eyes roamed up and down her curvy figure. “I really couldn’t say.”
Anger propelled her closer and she jabbed a finger in the middle of his chest. “You don’t know anything about me. And being some sort of big chief around here doesn’t give you the right to be insulting!”
He caught the finger pressing into his chest, then clamped his hand tightly around hers. “Let’s not worry about what I am. Let’s concentrate on what you are,” he growled in a low voice. “You’ve come to my home under false pretenses—”
“That’s not true!” she interrupted hotly, her cheeks burning. “And you have to be the most—hateful bastard I’ve ever met!”
One corner of his lips sneered upward. “You think so? You think I’m hateful for trying to protect my family from vultures like you?”
“Vul-tt-ture!” she sputtered in outrage. Instant retaliation was the only thing on her mind as she lifted her free hand to slap his jaw.
Matt caught her wrist in midair and then he was gripping both her hands, making it impossible for her to pull away as she stared at him in mute fury.
“You shouldn’t have tried that, Miss Madsen,” he said in a cunningly smooth voice.
The glitter in his dark green eyes electrified Juliet. Suddenly she couldn’t breathe or move the slightest muscle, even when she saw his head descending toward hers.
“Let me go.”
The three words were breathed out in a voice so tiny he could barely hear it.
“Why? So you can try to slap me again?” he goaded.
The urge to kick his shin shot through her head, but she didn’t have time to carry through with the strike. Before she knew what was happening, he jerked her forward and the front of her body slammed into his.
The contact felt like running straight into a stone wall. The force snapped her head back and made the curls atop her head bounce wildly.
“You—”
The rest of her verbal attack was lost as his lips swooped down on hers. Like a vulnerable little mouse clutched in a hawk’s talons, he ravaged her mouth while she stood in a shocked, rigid stance. The heat of his body flowed into her like a sudden arc of electricity and from her head to her toes she felt her skin flushing bright pink.
Just as abruptly as the kiss started it came to a shattering end as he ripped his lips away from hers and set her an arm’s length away.
Dazed and gasping for air, she stared at him.
He stared back as his eyes roamed over and over her face.
“Consider that a lesson,” he finally said.
His voice was low and husky and Juliet shivered inwardly. The man was more than sexy looking; he was Mr. Sensuality. Too bad he was bent on using his charms in the wrong way.
Quickly, before he could see how stunned she’d been by his kiss, she gathered as much of her senses together as possible and asked coolly, “What sort of lesson would that be?”
“To leave me and my family alone.”
His blunt reply was as sharp as a knife. Juliet told herself it didn’t really hurt. She’d been spurned before. Yet she felt as if he’d sliced open an old wound and all the times she’d been rejected in the past had come up to slap her in the face.
Drawing up her shoulders, she said, “If the rest of your family is anything like you, it will be a pleasure. Now if I’m excused, Mr. Sanchez, I’m going back inside. It’s cold out here and there’s no gentleman around to offer me his jacket.”
His blood simmering, Matt watched her turn on a tall, delicate high heel and walk back into the house.
Damn it all, he silently fumed. The newspaperwoman should have never been invited here and for two cents he’d question his Aunt Geraldine about her presence on Sandbur. But since a woman was something he never discussed with anyone, for any reason, he realized he wouldn’t take the issue that far. His aunt would think he’d cracked up. Besides, he wanted to push Juliet Madsen totally out of his thoughts. He wanted to forget he’d lost his head and kissed that Dallas woman.
Inside the house Juliet quickly made her way to the restroom and, after locking the door, leaned weakly across the lavatory. A gilded mirror hung over the shallow basin and Juliet was horrified at the image she saw staring back at her.
She looked ghostly pale, except for her lips—and they were almost cherry-red from the hard kiss Matt Sanchez had planted on them. Much of her naturally curly hair had come loose from its pins and several locks were now swinging in front of her eyes.
She’d left her tiny handbag back in the kitchen under the table where she’d been sitting with the old cook, so she was without a compact, lipstick or comb. Her hands shook as she tried her best to finger comb her tumbled hair back into place and she scolded herself for having such a violent response to the man. It shouldn’t matter that he’d taken her unaware with that kiss. She’d been kissed before, she told herself.
But not like that. For a few seconds you were swooning, dreaming of more.
Disgusted with herself, she straightened the straps on her dress, then bravely stepped out of the room and back into the party.
In the great room she was quickly swept onto the dance floor by one man and then another. The music was lively and normally Juliet loved to dance, but as each partner struck up a conversation, she found herself looking around the room, searching for him.
Eventually, Juliet decided she’d lost the partying mood and decided to retrieve her purse from the kitchen and head home. She’d already gotten what she’d come for anyway. And more, she thought dismally.
When Juliet entered the kitchen, she found Cook stirring up another bowl of punch. She told the older woman goodbye, then collected her wrap and left the house through the nearest exit. As for thanking Geraldine Saddler for the wedding invitation, she’d do that later through a card in the mail.
Outside the massive, hacienda-style house, the clouds had grown even heavier than when she and Matt were on the patio. The wind was chillier and she gathered the velvet stole higher on her arms as she hurried to her parked car.
Juliet was so intent on getting away from the ranch she almost missed the young girl sitting on one of the half-buried railroad ties that lined the edge of the driveway. She was wearing a long, pale pink dress and her light brown hair flowed in waves down her back. If it weren’t for the lost expression on her face, she would have looked totally adorable.
Curious as to why the girl was out here alone, Juliet walked over to her.
“Hello,” she said warmly.
The girl, who appeared to be twelve or thirteen, glumly glanced up at her.
“Hi,” she mumbled.
“Why aren’t you inside enjoying the party?”
Bending her head, the girl plucked absently at her skirt. “Why aren’t you?”
Carefully, Juliet sat down next to the girl, while telling herself it didn’t matter if creosote stained the seat of her dress. The child emanated sadness, an emotion that Juliet was well acquainted with, and she couldn’t leave until she’d found out what was upsetting her.
“Well, I don’t really know anyone around here and I’m not all that good at talking to strangers.” Or kissing them, either, Juliet thought wryly. “So I decided to head home.”
Big brown eyes looked curiously up at Juliet. “I know everyone here today. Except for you. Are you a relative?”
Juliet shook her head. “No. My name is Juliet Madsen and I write stories for the newspaper. I’m going to do one about the wedding.”
“Oh.” The flicker of curiosity fell from her face and the corners of her lips turned downward. “Then I guess you know my daddy was a groomsman. You probably have all their names down and all that kind of stuff.”
“That’s right. What’s your father’s name?”
“Matt Sanchez. I’m Gracia Sanchez and my daddy’s the general manager of the Sandbur. Did you know that?”
Juliet didn’t know why she was so stunned to discover that Matt Sanchez had a daughter. The man was probably closer to forty than he was thirty. He’d had plenty of time to acquire a family. But when he’d kissed her—well, she’d never imagined that he had a wife somewhere in the wedding crowd. Dear God, what if the woman had walked in on them? The idea burned Juliet with anger and embarrassment.
“Uh—no. I didn’t know that. You must be very proud of him.”
The girl shrugged. “I guess so. He’s always busy.”
The simple statement said volumes and Juliet suddenly remembered her own childhood and a father who’d never been around. No matter if she’d needed him or not. Hugh Madsen’s indifference to his daughter’s life had left a deep wound inside Juliet, one that had never healed.
Juliet nodded with understanding. “Most men usually are,” she said more wistfully than she’d intended, then looked pointedly at Gracia’s pink satin dress. “Your dress is beautiful. Did your mother let you pick it out yourself?”
The girl’s eyes shadowed over and then she quickly glanced away from Juliet. “I picked it out myself. But I don’t have a mother. She died when I was six.”
Juliet was suddenly struck with empathy for the girl. Looking at Gracia was like seeing herself twelve years ago.
Gently, she reached over and stroked a strand of gold-brown hair lying on Gracia’s shoulder.
“My mother died when I was eight,” Juliet told her. “So you don’t have to tell me how awful it is. I understand.”
Gracia’s head twisted back around and she looked at Juliet with surprise. “Your mother died, too? Really? How come?”
Juliet’s heart squeezed as faded memories of her ailing mother drifted to the forefront of her thoughts. Eva Madsen had been a softspoken, gentle woman who’d made Juliet’s world a magical place with smiles and laughter and a loving hand. When she’d passed away from cancer, Juliet’s life had never been the same.
“She was sick for a long time and could never get well.”
“Oh. My mother got hurt on a horse and died all of a sudden.”
Juliet was suddenly thinking about Matt and how the tragedy must have affected him. He seemed such a stern, unyielding man it was hard to imagine him grieving. But people dealt with personal loss in different ways. For all she knew, the ranch manager might still be mourning his wife’s death.
“I’m sorry, Gracia. But sometimes bad things happen to nice people.”
She gave Juliet a solemn nod as though she’d already accepted such a fact. “Do you have a stepmom?”
Juliet shook her head. “I only have a father and no brothers or sisters.”
A petulant look suddenly stole over the young girl’s sweet face. “Me, too. And that’s why I don’t like being inside today—with the wedding going on. My daddy won’t—”
“Gracia! Finally, I’ve found you!”
Matt’s voice interrupted his daughter’s words and both girl and woman looked over their shoulders to see him rapidly descending upon them. The cowman’s strides were long and purposeful, his expression dour. Juliet felt herself bracing for his presence and when his eyes zeroed in on her face, she unconsciously rose to her feet.
“You! What are you doing out here with my daughter?” he asked sharply.
How could she have had one sympathetic thought for this man, Juliet wondered. Too bad she hadn’t managed to get that slap off. Whacking his jaw would have given her supreme pleasure.
“I’m trying to get to my car and go home.”
His jaw tightened. “That’s not what it looks like to me.”
“You don’t know what anything looks like,” Juliet shot back.
His gaze settled on her lips and Juliet felt her cheeks fill with unaccustomed heat. Had she actually kissed this man? It seemed impossible and yet all she had to do was look at him and her lips burned with the memory.
“I warned you to stay away from my family, Miss Madsen. And my daughter is definitely off-limits to—”
“Daddy!” Gracia exclaimed as she jumped to her feet and stared at him in horrified embarrassment. “What are you doing? Juliet is my friend and—”
Stepping forward, he placed a hand on his daughter’s slender shoulder. “Juliet is not your friend. You don’t even know the woman.”
The girl shot Juliet a wounded look, then stabbed her father with a tearful gaze.
“Juliet is my friend,” she practically shouted. “And you’re being mean and bossy! You never want me to have any friends. Never!”
Jerking away from her father, the girl took off in an awkward run toward the house. It was all Juliet could do not to race after her. The child needed comfort and understanding; two things that she obviously wasn’t going to get from this man. But it wasn’t her place to give his child solace and he’d be the first one to point that out.
“Feel good now?” Juliet quipped. “Now that you’ve gotten her away from the evil reporter?”
Matt jerked his gaze off his daughter’s retreating back to scowl at Juliet. “Damn it! See what you’ve done! It’s time for pictures and now her face is going to be all red. You’re a real piece of work,” he gritted.
Forgetting what happened the last time she got close to him, Juliet stepped right in his face. “Your daughter and I were doing just fine until you butted in. But you were so dead set on insulting me that you didn’t care whether you hurt and embarrassed her. God, what a cretin you are!”
“If I knew what that meant—”
“It means you have the mental equivalency of an idiot!” she interrupted hotly. “If you haven’t looked lately, your daughter is hurting. You ought to focus a little of your time on her instead of worrying about your family’s past skeletons!”
Once she’d blasted the words at him, she turned on her heel and began to march in the direction of her car.
Behind her, Matt yelled, “My family doesn’t have any skeletons!”
Juliet paused long enough to glance back at him. “Everyone has skeletons, Mr. Sanchez. Even you.”
