BooksBarbecue
Back The Shoe Queen
Chapters (67)
  1. Cover
  2. “And may I say, those shoes are adorable.”
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. ( I )
  7. ( one )
  8. ( two )
  9. ( three )
  10. ( four )
  11. ( five )
  12. ( six )
  13. ( seven )
  14. ( eight )
  15. ( nine )
  16. ( ten )
  17. ( II )
  18. ( eleven )
  19. ( twelve )
  20. ( thirteen )
  21. ( fourteen )
  22. ( fifteen )
  23. ( III )
  24. ( sixteen )
  25. ( seventeen )
  26. ( eighteen )
  27. ( nineteen )
  28. ( IV )
  29. ( twenty )
  30. ( twenty-one )
  31. ( twenty-two )
  32. ( twenty-three )
  33. ( twenty-four )
  34. ( V )
  35. ( twenty-five )
  36. ( twenty-six )
  37. ( twenty-seven )
  38. ( twenty-eight )
  39. ( twenty-nine )
  40. VI
  41. ( thirty )
  42. ( thirty-one )
  43. ( thirty-two )
  44. ( thirty-three )
  45. ( thirty-four )
  46. ( VII )
  47. ( thirty-five )
  48. ( thirty-six )
  49. ( thirty-seven )
  50. ( thirty-eight )
  51. ( thirty-nine )
  52. ( forty )
  53. ( forty-one )
  54. ( forty-two )
  55. ( VIII )
  56. ( forty-three )
  57. ( forty-four )
  58. ( forty-five )
  59. ( forty-six )
  60. ( forty-seven )
  61. ( forty-eight )
  62. ( forty-nine )
  63. ( fifty )
  64. ( fifty-one )
  65. Acknowledgments
  66. Acknowledgments
  67. Questions for Discussion

Zachari shrugged. “She’s…possessive. And she knows there’s something between us. She always knows.”

Genevieve turned to face him. “What are we going to do, Paolo?”

“I’m going to make you another pair of shoes.” And now he smiled, with his eyes as well as his mouth. “I have them in my head already.”

“Maybe they’ll be wrong for me.”

“No. That won’t happen.” Gently he lifted the sun hat from her head and set it down on the grass beside them. “There. I can see you now.” He touched her face, letting his hand rest against her cheek. As he leaned forward, she knew what he was about to do, and the anticipation was delicious and agonizing in equal measures. When his mouth touched hers, there came an incredible heat. Whether it emanated from him or from her was impossible to say. It was there in both of them, in their kiss. And it was all about them too, in the vivid blue sky. His arms were around her waist now. Her eyes were closed, and a voice in her head said, This is it. I have always wanted to feel this way. I can’t bear for this to end.

But even as she thought this, her eyes were already opening. Over his shoulder she saw a woman in a flowery dress walking in their direction but then veering off suddenly down another path. The woman’s cheeks were very pink. Her gaze met Genevieve’s and then was cast down. She was one of those women you’d call “neat.” Small and unremarkable, with thick white calves and ankles that had no definition to them—no visible anklebone. Genevieve saw the woman looking at them. And then she knew she had seen her somewhere before.

“What’s wrong?” asked Zachari.

The woman was walking away.

“Genevieve?”

“It’s nothing.” Genevieve shut her eyes and opened them again, trying to collect herself. “That woman.”

“What woman?”

“She looked at me as though she knew me. She seemed…familiar, but I can’t place her.” In spite of the heat, she shivered. “What if she does know me? And what if she knows Robert?”

“I doubt it. She was probably just embarrassed because you caught her staring at us.” He reached out for her hand, but she drew back.

“I have to go. I can’t be…I mustn’t do this.”

“You’re nervous, that’s all.”

She shook her head. “That woman saw me. She saw me and she recognized me. I have to go.” She scooped up her hat and headed off fast down the shady tree-lined avenue.

“Genevieve!”

I must not look back, she told herself. He’s watching me walk away and I can’t allow myself to look into his eyes again.

She wished she could lose herself in the shadows cast by those geometrically perfect trees. She wished she could close her eyes and disappear.

( V )

TONGUE