The ladies were not so very happy to leave the island the next day. The only remaining Bitch, Chloe, was feeling a little lost now that her best buddy was gone, but she soon found company with the Romantics, Tanya, Penny and Kim. Everybody knew she didn’t like Kim that much because Kim was Asian and well, Chloe got race issues. Add that one to the things Julianne hated about the lady. The Desperadas, namely Amanda and Stella, were found to be talking in secret the whole time they were waiting for the boat. They were probably scheming on how to get Zach to wherever place they would find themselves at.
Pauline and Julianne spent their last remaining hours taking pictures, much to Pauline’s insistence. Julianne was able to breathe once again when Brent came and announced that they had to leave right that moment. Zach was nowhere in the boat and Brent said he was already on his way alone to the ranch.
“Ranch?” Chloe asked aloud, horror on her face. “We’re going to a ranch?”
“Yes, ladies, you’ll all be living with the horses and some other animals from now on.”
A collective groan escaped from the group of ladies wearing their usual dresses. Julianne held a grin. Good thing she wore pants.
“Where is it?” Tanya asked.
“It’s somewhere in New Mexico, but the exact location will be a secret. Mr. Astor wants his privacy whenever he goes there.”
“Privacy,” Julianne heard Chloe scoff.
“Will we have to like step on mud and shit?” Kim asked innocently.
Brent appeared to be thinking for a moment before he said, “That depends on how you would like to impress Zach. For everyone’s information, Zach likes spending time in that ranch. He manages it himself. And he’s a terrific horseman.”
“I can’t ride a horse,” Pauline whispered beside Julianne.
“Me either,” she answered. She would never, ever ride a horse. She had been on one and it was not such a great experience.
*****
It took long hours of sitting on the plane before they finally landed and were driven to the ranch. Not one of them had ever been near where the van was taking them. The scenic view kept them preoccupied for almost three hours until they reached the said ranch. Not one crew was obedient as to tell them how vast the Astor ranch was which everyone deduced to be probably really vast.
Zach was already waiting for them outside a really big house made of wood. It was very much like the cabin they left on the island, just bigger and more modern. It was surrounded by acacia trees, shading it from the heat of the sun. What Julianne knew about ranches was that they always have barns and stables and this one got those just some meters away from the main house. Men in cowboy boots and hats were everywhere, doing their own work, trying to be oblivious of the fact that the place was swarming with cameras and crews and beautiful ladies.
Jack Carter was already setting up camp and directing his men when the girls finally jumped out of the van, their wide shades on. Zach smiled at them and Julianne couldn’t help but see the difference on his face from the last time she held eyes on him. He was more relaxed here, his face radiant and stress-free. He was dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt and dark pants and boots. He had a dirty brown hat in his hand as he approached them.
“Hello, ladies,” he grinned. Well, obviously, he was over what happened a few days ago in the island. No anger in his eyes now. But they still wouldn’t meet hers.
Obviously, he was still angry at her, Julianne thought with disappointment, not that she was not planning to say sorry because she would eventually—when she got the time.
“Welcome to the ranch. Were you surprised?” he asked with boyish excitement. Julianne wished he would look at her and give her that boyish look of his.
The girls nodded their heads.
“Why don’t you settle in your rooms? We have plenty and I think you’ll all have one for yourselves.”
And he was right. Julianne was relieved she could finally get a room for herself. She just didn’t mention that to Pauline. She liked her friend’s company, but there were just moments that she longed to be alone, to think and do her work without someone barging in.
“Hey, it’s time for a little get together,” Fatima’s voice said, her head peeking through the door with a smile.
“I’ll be down, thanks,” Julianne replied, standing up.
The vast living room was already full of cameras and some of the ladies were already there. Pauline waved at her to come close and she sat beside her. It was such a wonder how the ladies managed to fumble through their luggage to find suitable yet glamorous clothes fitting for the ranch.
“Good afternoon, once again, ladies,” Zach greeted them, his hands on his hips. “Today, I’ll have a date.”
It was like everyone got shot from behind for they sat upright with excitement.
“With Pauline,” Zach beamed and Julianne’s friend squealed. She wanted to cover the woman’s mouth, but she let her have her moment. After all, it was the first one-on-one date she would have with Zach.
“Can you ride?” Zach asked Pauline who frowned. “Well, then I guess that’s our date. By the end of this day, you will be able to,” he smiled at her warmly and Julianne looked away, not comfortable seeing him smiling at anyone other than her, most especially at Pauline. Yes, she considered Pauline a friend and she understood that this was a show meant to be open for every lady to feel happy. But seeing Zach acting like she didn’t exist was like torture.
Half an hour later, Pauline left with Zach with their horses, and Julianne was once again left with the others who, by the looks on their faces, were not so happy to be left behind. She knew she could be the subject of their frustration if she stayed indoors so she decided to go out and stroll around, see if she could find another tree for herself.
*****
“I’m really happy I get to do this with you, Zach,” Pauline told him with a grin. She was actually a pretty good learner. In just one hour, she was able to climb on the horse and ride it alone without his assistance. They were far from the house now, just riding their horses and talking.
“You’re good, I think you’re born to do this,” he uttered.
“Well, I hope so.”
Zach cleared his throat, not sure how to ask the question he so wanted to ask since he got Pauline alone. “So, how are the other ladies since…you know, that incident?”
Pauline’s voice lit up, “Oh, you mean when you got angry?”
“Yeah,” he answered reluctantly.
“They’re back to their old selves,” she answered.
“And Julianne?”
Pauline looked at him with a frown. “What about Julianne?”
“How is she taking the news that everyone knows about her secret identity?”
“I don’t know, that girl doesn’t really talk,” Pauline answered. “She’s really weird.”
There was something in her tone that Zach didn’t like at all. And her way of calling Julianne that girl gave an impression that she didn’t want to associate herself with her friend. “Weird, yeah, I know that,” he decided to encourage what she obviously wanted to say.
“I know she considers me her friend, but she’s just…I don’t know…different,” Pauline shrugged.
“I thought you two are close?” he uttered, trying to sound casual.
“Yeah, right,” Pauline snorted, and then she closed her mouth. “Sorry, I know you might think I’m bad or something.”
Actually, he was starting to think the worse. But he had to drill her if he wanted to know what the woman was really like, because obviously, Julianne was wrong about her and so was he. “No, that’s fine. I respect your opinion. I would want to know more about the other ladies from your own point of view,” he urged.
Pauline flipped her hair behind her shoulders. “Well, I can’t really judge all of them, but despite what everyone thinks, I’m not really into Julianne that much. Everyone made me feel like an outcast because of her. She was showing everyone we were friends. We don’t even talk that much,” she said without pause.
Zach’s jaw clenched. “I really actually thought you were close.”
“I had no choice,” Pauline sighed. “She had no friend and I thought I should have someone to be with especially now that Brenda is gone. You know, you might not like to hear this, but since you asked for the truth, I think Julianne planned it when Brenda and I were gone and the two of you searched for us. She obviously wants your attention and I think she fooled you by being the silent, withdrawn one.”
Zach nodded his head slowly, but he could feel the rush of anger rising up his throat. He ground his teeth, biting back the nasty words. He thought Chloe was the conniving one, but Pauline was worse. He knew Julianne considered her a friend. Well, she chose the wrong one because the lady was too desperate to put her down. “Well, that’s a good thing to know,” he forced out bitterly. “I know something’s wrong with her, I just can’t point it out.”
Pauline smiled her usual goody smile which now appeared wicked and creepy to Zach. “I even wonder why you even keep on giving her a rose. I bet she has some hold on you or something.”
Zach did not answer because if he as much as opened his mouth, he couldn’t imagine the ugly words he could throw at her. “I think it’s getting dark. We should head back. We still have an hour for our return trip.”
It was the most agonizing trip he had to share with any of the ladies. Pauline wouldn’t shut up about how she was grateful that Julianne didn’t have to share a room with her because the lady just didn’t sleep. He wanted to shove one horse feet down her throat when she started talking about Julianne’s insistence on wearing her thick glasses and how she found it annoying to look at.
So okay, he didn’t like Julianne’s glasses, but it was a part of her that he wouldn’t wish to change if she didn’t want to.
When he took off with Pauline that afternoon, he thought he would be riding with an angel. By the time they arrived back and jumped off their horses, he was pretty convinced he rode with the devil’s mistress.
He had to get that talk with Julianne before it was too late.
*****
But no one could find her. She was nowhere.
“What do you mean Jules is missing?” he asked Jack when the director approached him.
“Your men said they saw her walking south, that way,” the man pointed with his thumb. “I asked them to search, but no one can find her.
Zach cursed. Of all the bad luck he could receive!
He looked up at the sky and cursed once again. A storm was coming, and it looked like it would not be light at all. He gathered his men and arranged for another round of search. Jack offered the help of his crew, but unlike the island, he had men that were more skilled. The crew would only get sick and plus, radios wouldn’t work at the kind of weather that was about to come.
“Just stay here,” he ordered, “Don’t let anyone out. I can’t have more missing person when I get back,” he added before he left to climb on his horse.
How could ladies be so dumb to always get lost? The rain had started pouring and the clouds rumbled.
He was riding with one of his men. He was somehow confident they would find Julianne. After all, all of them were used to finding missing cows or horses.
“I bet she’s in one of the cabins around here,” his right hand said, shouting over the noise. The wind was getting stronger now. Zach agreed. There were cabins scattered everywhere the ranch for shelter when things like storms happened without warning.
“Okay! You tell the others to search the nearest cabin near them! I’ll go search the east side of the house. There are only two cabins there! If this thing goes stronger, stay in one and postpone the search!” The moment he finished his orders, the man galloped away to spread the news. He couldn’t risk losing more men. He would search for Julianne on his own if he had to.
He urged his horse to run against the raging wind to the direction of the cabin nearest the house. Nearest meant about half a mile away, but still, Julianne could have not noticed the distance when she went away that afternoon.
The only thing he feared was the thought that she was not in any of the cabin. That she could be anywhere under another damned tree was unacceptable for Zach because there were hundreds of trees around. As he fought the strong wind and the stingy splatter of the rain, he prayed Julianne was safe and warm in a freaking cabin.
*****
“Shit,” Julianne uttered once again, shivering from head to foot. She looked through the window and almost fell back when a branch scraped it from the outside. She couldn’t see a thing. The rain and the wind were not making it possible for her to see clearly. She took off her glasses and wiped them with the towel she found in one of the cabinets. She looked around the small cabin and thanked God it was intact. There was a match on top of a small fireplace and the logs were dry.
Of all the luck she could get, she got the least favored one. She never noticed that she was too far away from the house when the wind started to change and the first drop of rain fell down. She had been strolling and thinking along the stream that she was oblivious to the sudden change of weather until it was too late. The cabin was nearest than the house and she took her chance. Good thing it was empty. Bad thing was, it was well-hidden behind a number of trees. No one was bound to find her in this kind of weather, she thought.
For a moment, she worried about Zach and Pauline being caught by the storm, and she only consoled herself by thinking Zach was used to ranch life and he would know something before they actually happened. Right now, she had to think about herself. She was cold and shivering. The cabin was stocked well enough with a lot of blankets and she used those to dry herself. She was just about to take off her clothes to let them dry out when the cabin door burst open with so much force that she literally jumped up in panic.
Her eyes had gone wide and her breathing stopped for about a few seconds as she tried convincing herself that what she was seeing was no illusion.
“Zach?” she stuttered.
He was drenched from head to foot, and water was dripping down his clothes while he looked at her, his chest heaving.
“Jules,” he said in a whisper. Just that name came out of his mouth but it told Julianne everything he was feeling—relief, tenderness, and something deep. He rushed towards her and crushed her against him with so much force that the air was snatched out of her. “Thank God you’re okay,” he murmured against her wet hair as he held her closer.