BooksBarbecue
Back The Lollipop Shoes
Chapters (96)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Book
  3. The Lollipop Shoes
  4. Dedication
  5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  6. PART ONE
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. PART TWO
  13. 1
  14. 2
  15. 3
  16. 4
  17. 5
  18. 6
  19. 7
  20. 8
  21. PART THREE
  22. 1
  23. 2
  24. 3
  25. 4
  26. 5
  27. 6
  28. PART FOUR
  29. 1
  30. 2
  31. 3
  32. 4
  33. 5
  34. 6
  35. 7
  36. 8
  37. 9
  38. PART FIVE
  39. 1
  40. 2
  41. 3
  42. 4
  43. 5
  44. 6
  45. 7
  46. 8
  47. 9
  48. 10
  49. 11
  50. 12
  51. PART SIX
  52. 1
  53. 2
  54. 3
  55. 4
  56. 5
  57. 6
  58. 7
  59. 8
  60. 9
  61. 10
  62. 11
  63. 12
  64. PART SEVEN
  65. 1
  66. 2
  67. 3
  68. 4
  69. 5
  70. 6
  71. 7
  72. 8
  73. 9
  74. PART EIGHT
  75. 1
  76. 2
  77. 3
  78. 4
  79. 5
  80. 6
  81. 7
  82. 8
  83. 9
  84. 10
  85. 11
  86. 12
  87. 13
  88. 14
  89. 15
  90. 16
  91. 17
  92. 18
  93. 19
  94. Epilogue
  95. About the Author
  96. Also by Joanne Harris

I froze. Now what? I thought. Now we were back together? What then? Would that help Anouk and Rosette? Would that banish the Kindly Ones? Would our love put even a single meal on the table, or still the wind for even a day?

Better you’d stayed asleep, Vianne, said my mother’s voice inside my head. And better, if you care for him—

‘This isn’t what I came for, Roux.’ With an effort, I pushed him away. He did not try to hold me back, but watched me instead as I pulled on my coat and straightened my hair with shaking hands.

‘Why are you here?’ I said fiercely. ‘Why did you stay in Paris at all, with everything that’s happening?’

‘You didn’t tell me to leave,’ he said. ‘Besides, I wanted to know about Thierry. I wanted to make sure you were OK.’

‘I don’t need your help,’ I said. ‘I’m fine. You saw that in the chocolate shop.’

Roux smiled. ‘Then why are you here?’

Over the years I have learnt to lie. I’ve lied to Anouk; lied to Thierry; and now I have to lie to Roux. If not for him, then for myself – because I knew that if any more of that sleeping part of me were to awaken, then Thierry’s embraces would not only be unwelcome, but wholly intolerable, and that all my plans of the past four years would blow away like leaves on the wind.

I looked at him. ‘I’m asking you now. I want you to leave. This whole thing isn’t fair on you. You’re waiting for something that can’t possibly happen, and I don’t want you to get hurt any more.’

‘I don’t need help,’ he mocked. ‘I’m fine.’

‘Please, Roux.’

‘You said you loved him. This proves you don’t.’

‘It isn’t that easy . . .’

‘Why not?’ said Roux. ‘Because of the shop? You’d marry him for a chocolate shop?’

‘You make it sound so ridiculous. But where were you four years ago? And what makes you think you can come back now, expecting to find that nothing’s changed?’

‘You haven’t changed so much, Vianne.’ He put out a hand to touch my face. The static between us was gone now, to be replaced by a dull, sweet ache. ‘And if you think I’m leaving now—’

‘I have to think of my children, Roux. This isn’t just about me.’ I took his hand and squeezed it hard. ‘If today proves anything, then it’s this. I can’t be alone with you any more. I don’t trust myself. I don’t feel safe.’

‘Is safety so very important, then?’

‘If you had children, you’d know it was.’