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Usually, the employees at the Springs took their meals in the bunkhouse. There was a full kitchen there and the ranch hands worked out a rotating schedule so one person wasn’t stuck with either all the cooking or all the cleanup. Because Sam wanted to keep in touch with what was happening in the operations of the ranch, but didn’t complete herself, she had decided that once a week everyone would meet at the veranda and have lunch. Today, Monday, was the day. She would make a platter of sandwiches, open a couple bags of chips, set out pitchers of tea and lemonade, and listen to her employees talk about the livestock and each other. As the boss, she thought of these lunches as informal company meetings. Sometimes she would redirect who was doing what, and where. It also gave the employee
