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Back The Shoe Queen Save as PDF
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

That heartbeat of his—one light beat, one heavy. Boo-boom, boo-boom. His knock was just the same.

“…I want to feel…to really experience your forgiveness.”

Boo-boom, Boo-boom. That was how he’d knocked the other night. It had begun with the knocking and the shouting and ended with that hideous, suffocating love of his.

“Genevieve, you’re shaking.”

She was free of his arms. She’d jumped up without even being conscious of doing so. She was standing in the middle of the room, hugging herself—looking down at her red shoes, which sat tidily before the couch. She’d been thinking of Paolo tonight when she put those shoes on—and when she’d chosen the backless Myrbor dress. She’d imagined him kissing his way down her back…But instead it was Robert who sat there admiring her. It was Robert who was getting to his feet with that amorous look on his face.

“Honey, why are you backing away from me? It’s as if you don’t even want me to touch you.”

“I’m fine. Really.”

She had to keep him off her. Had to.

“Something’s wrong. What is it?”

“I’m pregnant.” She didn’t know where the words came from, but before she could stop them, they were out there. The words were so much bigger than her. They made her want to pick up the red shoes and hug them close, like a frightened child hugging her teddy bear.

VI

INSOLE

( thirty )

IT WAS SURELY THE finest of fine mornings. The sky had never been more bright, the air more fresh, the croissants more sweet and light. The women of Paris had never looked more beautiful, and the babies—ah, the darling little cherubs all bonny in their bonnets, enthroned in their jouncy perambulators and pushed along by their lovely English nannies. (Could you get them in Paris—those English nannies? Would he have to go to London to purchase one?)