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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

“Close your eyes,” said Robert, grabbing her by the hand. “I have a surprise for you.”

“What sort of surprise?”

“Just close your eyes.”

She heard the creak of the door being opened again, and his muffled footsteps on the hall carpet. He was breathing through his mouth, the way he often did when he was nervous. There were other times, too, when he breathed that way…She saw him in her mind, close up, his face right above hers, his weight pinning her down. The mustache smelling of cigars and bourbon and his dinner. That breathing…

“Come on, Robert.”

Why was her heart thudding like this?

There was a rustling sound from inside the apartment. A papery sound.

“Can I open my eyes now?”

Standing there, with her eyes still shut, she felt her surroundings fading away. The floor beneath her feet seemed less solid than it had a moment ago. She could almost be drifting off, up to the ceiling, perhaps down the lift shaft. She wanted to reach out, put her palms against the silk-papered walls, grab hold of something so she could be sure of where she was.

“All right.” He was close by again. His hands landed, heavy, on her shoulders, and he gave her a little shove forward over the threshold. “Open your eyes.”

The surprise was towering over her so that she thought, for an instant, it would crash down on top of her. She let out a little squeal and tried to step backwards, but the heavy hands pressed her to the spot, and Robert’s body was like a wall behind her.

“I’ve never forgotten that story you told me,” he said in a whisper. “About your horse. It touched me in some way I can’t explain. I’ve imagined you as a little girl, riding out across the land, free as a bird. I’ve thought about it a lot.”

It was really there, in the middle of the hall, rearing up in front of her on its marble pedestal. It had to be eight feet tall. Bronze.

“You see?” And he nuzzled the back of her neck. “You have a husband who understands you absolutely. Did you know that?”

Fixedly crazed eyes, enormous teeth, hideous flared nostrils.

How could he possibly think…

On the night Genevieve first met Robert, as her father’s dinner guest, she smiled at him across the table and knew straightaway that he had come to rescue her.