He rolled his blue eyes when Lani made the comparison that Thumper's name made about as much sense as her own name did, "Guess I can't argue that." Sam wasn't much of a sasser, he did better when he just grumbled and mumbled his angst. The man was smart enough to know that it was a losing battle with Lani - she'd have him tongue tied and twisted in the end.

At least the cows were there to distract him. He dismounted Damsel now, ground tying her by letting one of his split reins hang to the ground while the other rested on his saddle, safely looped up. Lani probably had a better idea when it had come to training Bear on voice commands, but Sam didn't have much time to marvel over that. The sky was getting dark, and they had a hefter to dig out. The fact that Shay wasn't screaming total bloody murder was a good sign, Sam could only hope it meant that she hadn't broken her leg when she went down.

After all, a broken leg was a dead cow walking, not much to do but to put it out of its misery, and quite frankly, Sam was secretly a softie and couldn't imagine that. The horrific gasp that escape Lani made Sam arch an eyebrow, "But you're a ranch...oh, you're joking." God, he should have known. They had crossed paths enough. Hadn't she literally just said earlier that she was the opposite of Heaven? He was crouching down now, realizing there was no easy way to do this, "I think - maybe, we just need to scoop out enough around her leg, then maybe we can help support her lift it out...or well, have the horses help support her..." and hope Shay didn't thrash...god, this was going to suck. Blue eyes looked to young woman now, "What do you think, Lani?"

What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.

It would appear that he might not be the only one a little uncertain about tonight, and while Tenaya Holland seemed to play herself off as calm and collected, her idea to check in on the cows may have given something away. He didn't mind though, truth be told, Sam was a bundle of nerves about tonight even though it wasn't a date. It was simply two adults hanging out, but Forrest and Violet with their talk had gotten to him. Still, Tenaya didn't seem to be acting any differently other than the cows comment, and maybe that was really more for him than for her, "I wouldn't mind. After the bonfire though." That way, if it got too awkward, they could go their separate ways.

Blue eyes blinked when the young woman informed him that she should be the one thanking him, "Yeah. Of course," he managed now, before nodding, "Sure. No dessert though. I managed to snag some marshmallows when I went into town to see my mum." Even though nobody was paying them any mind, the man couldn't help but to feel like they were. Those were probably his nerves talking though. As Tenaya lead them towards the standard buffet line, he couldn't help but to glance her over, really glance her over. It was probably a good thing that she was wearing a oversized flannel shirt because the tight fit of her jeans may have been distracting. As the thought entered his mind though, Sam was automatically annoyed with himself, acting like some dumb teenager.

He did, however, wonder, "Are you going to be warm enough for tonight?" Well, he suppose he could lend her his jacket, the bonfire would also do its job. Sam often didn't mind the cold, somehow, he appeared to run hot despite his stoic attitude. Also, maybe he should also pay attention to the conversation at hand, like his work day and how the weeks flew by, "Yeah...it did. How did the show conference go that you needed to get all the horses shoed and ready for?" As for his work day, he shrugged nonchallantly as he got in line now, grabbing himself a place and then handing one to Tenaya, "Work's been fine. I've been hearing rumors that the ranch might go up for sale though."

It had been a year since Kegan Diesel bought the ranch, and ironically enough, it took Sam Graves about a year to get used to her being the new boss in charge. It's not as if the woman was a bad boss, she was nice (even if she was a redhead), it was just that she was insanely more hands on. Even Sam, who typically was rather laid back (or so he thought) felt on edge whenever Kegan waltzed in on him with the cows or took that dramatic paint horse of her's out on the range with them. He felt like he was being evaluated even though when she came in, they were all informed that they were keeping their jobs. Still, as far as bosses go, Sam didn't mind her, nor did he mind the highland cows she decided to add to the herd. Secretly, he had become rather smitten with them.

But none of that had changed the fact that she had summoned him with a vague text that suggested some changes were coming to how the herders would go about their business. Sam hadn't quite known how to take the text. Forrest told him not to worry, Violet had no idea what was going on since she hadn't gotten a summonance yet, and Tenaya, well, she wasn't a herder so he couldn't ask her either. The man wasn't sure how he felt about it, mainly because he had some personal shit going with his mom and siblings, and then there was a matter of his...well, feelings and pussyfooting around them. Surely, none of that would come up, would it?

He didn't have much more time to ponder it though however, as Sam was outside the vet's office now, the place that he was informed to meet. Knocking on the office door, mainly to warn that he was coming in, he pushed the door open into the open space. Blue eyes immediately locked in on the woman, she was hard to miss after all with that head of hair of hers, "Ma'am, you said you wanted to see-" but his gaze was soon pulled to something else in the vet space, "Are those herding dogs?"

What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.

Sam Graves couldn't get over how two weeks had flown by so quickly, until now, as he finished up stacking hale bales for the evening. Blue green eyes glanced over his phone, clocking the time, and decided he had just enough time to head back to cabin to shower and change before he would meet Tenaya Holland. It suddenly occurred to him, by staring at his phone, what the actual date was for today: February 14th. Sam found himself staring at it an abnormally long time, a sense of dread starting to creep into his mind, how had he not known it was Valentine's Day when he proposed this hang out? No wonder Forrest Palmer and Violet Olson had been giving him such shit over this event. The soft moo of a cow broke his thoughts, causing Sam to shake his head, and head down to the main floor now, "Evening ladies."

One steamy hot shower later, Sam was toweling himself dry and pulling on new clothes. Nothing fancy, just stuff that was simple and warm for the evening. Once the bon fire started, the cold wouldn't bother him too much either. Instinctively, the man made sure to double layer jackets though, just incase Tenaya may end up needing one. Blue green eyes stared over himself in the mirror once more, his drying hair messy and his jaw line littered with scruff. He didn't want to risk shaving, not when he felt like a bundle of nerves. Sam knew he had to get a hold of himself, "It's not a date," he said to himself, staring at himself hard in the mirror - willing himself to calm down, "Don't let Forrest and Vi get to you." It is a hangout.

With that, Sam left his cabin and took the walk towards the dinning hall now, his hands shoved into his pockets. He was lucky the snow forecast had managed to hold off, meaning that setting the bon fire alight would be an easy task. He already had it set and ready to go in the designated spot, and made a note to the only hands and employees to not touch it. Coming to the dinning hall now, he lingered outside the doors when he caught that Tenaya wasn't inside. Although, it wasn't long before he heard her voice: "Hello, Sam. I jokingly thought you were going to bail on me tonight. How are the calves doing?" Blue green eyes glanced over to see the one and only Tenaya Holland now, looking beautiful as ever with her blonde hair tumbling out of a beanie, a stark contrast to the red and black plaid, "Hey," he offered, before adding a smile, "I think the cows and their calves can live without me for a night...they're doing good though."

He should probably ask her how her horses were, or say something more. Maybe talk about anything other than cows, "Uh, thanks for hanging out with me tonight, Tenaya." Smooth Sam, reallllll smooth.

Sam didn't quite understand how the young woman could be so nonchalant about the missing cows, maybe she was worried and just very good at hiding it, but from Sam's perspective, her personality was going to make this ride feel long. And that was on top of his own worry. It wasn't that Kalani was mean, in fact, she was far from it, from what he could tell and had heard, she was very nice and infectious, and perhaps that was the reason why he may find himself utterly annoyed. Sometimes nice people were just...too much, and talked too much.

Still, when she informed him that she harness in under 5 minutes and her tacking time plus packing a saddle bag took even less time, Sam knew he still made the right call by having her join him, "Huh. Didn't expect you to say that either," he replied back now, wryly teasing her over her earlier comments about Bear. It was weird to see her in the helmet, made her smarter than him given he just wore his hat and that wasn't going to save him from a concussion, but still weird. As they passed through, Sam and Damsel followed afterwards - allowing the gate to gently, but firmly, shut behind them as they headed off.

He rode along Kalani and Bear now, making sure to keep his mare in check every time she decided to try and make a face at Bear. He knew Damsel would mind her own business and not do anything too stupid, but today was not the day where he could afford her to be stupid. She was there to work, and only work, and Sam made certain she understood that. Kalani's question broke through now, "I have the radio with me to message back to the main ranch if we need to," he replied now, "I'm hoping we can just herd them back, calves included, if there are any new surprises. I don't want to even think about what we have to do if there are any broken legs..."

Even saying it out loud made him frown, since he didn't think a cow could come back from a broken leg. That was a worry he wouldn't humor unless it came to it, "Thanks for coming," he grunted now, figuring it was best to say it. It dawned on Sam that he didn't know much about the woman besides him, or her horse, other than they came to the Ranch before him and likely were more senior than him either, "What made you want him?" he asked now, nodding to Bear, figuring he'd ask incase Kalani was one of those people who couldn't handle the silence. Sam still kept his blue eyes peeled though, specifically for tracks - given the cold weather made it harder for tracking.

What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.

His gaze looked to Kalani as she gently teased him about his reaction to the confirmation of the missing cows. Sam knew he could snap at her, but that wouldn't win him anything and she was doing him a favor, "I'm a man of many words," he replied back wrly. The man wasn't surprised when Kalani informed him that she had her own horse that needed the ride. It was funny, the ranch preferred its hands to own their own horse, but the ranch also required its own horses to get work, so it often felt like a conundrum that the hand's horses lost out on. Speaking of the young woman's horse, the gelding had made quite the entrance, "Huh, I didn't know that roan was yours." He mused out loud before nodding his confirmation to Kalani that they'd meet back at the same spot in five minutes with their perspective horses.

Sam left to go get his mare, figuring that she could use the extra work given how moody she had been lately. His gelding, Thumper, was always the reliable one, while Damsel tended to be a hit or miss. The man knew that was his fault though, he put Thumper to work more than the mare and not enough credit when deserved. That would change today though if she could pull off a long ride to god knows where and back. Both his horses had been saddled, milling about at a post. He quickly untacked Thumper and set him loose into one of the fields with the last of Sam's horses - one tiny mini to be exact, before returning to his palomino mare, "Today's your day to shine, girl," he murmured to her, petting her gently before bridling her up and taking care of the cinch, "Time to prove to everyone what I saw in you when I bought you verses the nut job you pretend to be."

The mare's ears twitched at her owner's sweet mumblings, snorting a little bit knowing that they were going out and Thumper was gone to relax for the evening. Shaking his head slightly, he gently took the reins and lead her back where Kalani and her mount were waiting, "You weren't joking about the five minutes," Sam commented before checking the cinch once more and then mounted up. Damsel groaned a little bit as his weight, but Sam knew very well that it was for dramatic effect. Shanking his head slightly, he lead her over to the gate now and unlatched it, and stopped, "Ladies first," the man called over to Kalani before looking towards the unknown, "I think they were driving them from the mid section of the land today, since they knew they had to get them back into the barn tonight."

What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.