Hmmm. As you read Cobwebs – A Suspense Novel, it can be hard to tell if Sam Mazie, Osage attorney, is a good guy or a bad guy. In one chapter, readers think ‘oh, he’s a good guy. Jamie is falling in love with him,’ and then shortly after, readers think, ‘oh, maybe he’s not such a good guy. Run, Jamie, run!’

If you haven’t read Cobwebs, I’m not going to spoil it for you. Today’s post includes a collection of quotes said by Sam during the story as narrated by Jamie Aldrich, widow, science teacher and story narrator.

Here’s a description of Sam, as seen by Jamie on the day they meet:

A man stepped through the door from the kitchen. “Jamie?” Long black hair reached to his shoulders, and deep-set brown eyes stared into my green ones.

Sam talks to Jamie about her aunt.:

He shook his head. “Her mind comes and goes. She is tired. It is good you came.”

Later, he talks to Jamie and takes charge:

Sam stepped into the front hall and closed the door behind him. He took one look at my face and motioned toward the kitchen. “You need some tea, I think.” And a few minutes later: He pulled out a chair at the little table, saying, “Sit, Jamie.”

The story progresses. Jamie has little opportunity to get to know Sam until friends and neighbors gather to support Jamie after her great aunt is hospitalized:

When I opened the door, Sam Mazie smoothed his wind-whipped hair. “Others are already here?” he asked quietly, holding two foil-covered pie plates stacked on top of each other. “I’d hoped we’d have a few moments to talk privately.”

Sam was the only person I’d seen all day who looked as worried as I felt. I turned to lead the way into the kitchen.

He touched my arm with his fingertips. “I am so sorry. You weren’t at all prepared for something like this to happen. All you wanted was a good visit.”

Hmmm. Sounds like a nice guy to me. But Jamie has little opportunity to learn more. Then one day, when she visits the Pawhuska cemetery on a whim…

About a block away, a man moved among the graves, his head high, his shoulders erect. His straight black hair stirred in the breeze. He knelt at a grave.

“Sam?” I called. His long strides carried him away faster than I could catch up on my sore ankle. I reached the area where he had been kneeling and scanned the grave markers until I found the depressed grassy place where he had knelt.

“Rebecca Alden Mazie. Beloved wife.”

In that instant, Jamie understands a lot more about Sam Mazie than she did previously. But there’s more to come, both in the romance department and in intrigue.

Stay tuned for more of the Cobwebs Reboot on Wednesday.