By now, Chris was saying something to Doug, who shrugged and wandered off in the direction of the festival. Gemma looked as if she wanted to stay and watch what happened more than anything, but eventually turned and followed Doug.

Augusta finally managed to put herself between the two men. Chris looked obnoxiously good, like he hadn’t even been through a breakup with his long-term girlfriend. He was probably hitting the gym even more now that she wasn’t around to complain about all the time he spent there, and he’d finally gotten the haircut that he’d been putting off for so long. “What are you doing here?” she forced herself to ask through gritted teeth.

“Doug and Gemma wanted to meet up with some friends. I’m allowed to go out places, too,” he added with a sneer. An unwelcome pang of jealousy shot through her, hot and sharp; when was the last time Chris had taken her out to do anything like this when they were dating?

“You should keep walking,” Leo told him in a dangerous growl that stirred something hot and deep within her. She’d never had two men fight over her honor before, and while it might have been a romantic fantasy, she wasn’t exactly eager to see it play out in real life.

Ignoring him, Chris craned his neck to see around Leo. “Augusta,” he said. “Now that you’re here, I need to tell you something. I’ve tried texting you but you never answer.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” she said, amazed that her voice came out as steady as it did. “Remember what happened last time you ‘just wanted to talk’?”

Color crept up Chris’s neck, proving that at least he was still capable of feelingsomeshame about the incident. “I was drunk and things got kind of out of hand—” at this Leo let out a snort “—but I’m sober now and I want to talk to you. To apologize.”

Augusta gave a stiff nod. She didn’t really want an apology; she just wanted Chris gone so she could move on with her life. His guilt was his own problem. Why should she have to carry it, too?

“Okay. Apology accepted,” she said flatly.

But instead of finally leaving, Chris was shoving his hands in his pockets, looking like a guilty kid trying to come clean about stealing cookies from the cookie jar.

“Yeah?” Augusta prodded him. “What?”

“I don’t really know how to say this,” Chris said, shooting her a nervous glance and looking suddenly unsure.

“Say it,” ground out Leo. “And then go.”

“That night, when...well, you know. I saw something.”

Augusta waited for him to go on.

“When the painting fell. I saw...” He hesitated. “I saw something. There, in the hall with us.” There was something in his tone that told her this wasn’t just about him and her and their fight. Suddenly, goose bumps were springing up on Augusta’s arms.

“Margaret,” she whispered.

“Who?” He shook his head as if she wasn’t making any sense. “No, it wasn’t a person. I don’t know what it was. But when you were against the wall, there was this...light.”

“Light?”

Chris gave a miserable nod. “It was...coming from you.”

Rather than vanishing, the goose bumps only spread further. “What are you talking about?” she forced herself to ask.

“There was something happening to you when that painting fell. It wasn’t... Look, I know I was rough and what I did was wrong. I feel like shit, believe me. But there was no way that I pushed you that hard.”

“You were drunk,” she said pointedly. “You’re probably not remembering clearly.” All the same, she got the feeling that he was telling the truth. Why would he lie about something he clearly felt like he needed to get off his chest? All the same, she didn’t want to think too much about what it might mean. It was hard enough to accept that she was able to see things through Margaret’s eyes in the past, never mind that Margaret might be somehow visible to others, here in the present.

“Look, I didn’t have to apologize, and I didn’t have to tell you any of this. Believe what you want, but something fucked up happened and I thought you should know.”

“Yep, that’s it,” Leo said, rolling his sleeves up and stepping forward. “Time for you get the fuck out of here.”

“This is the thanks I get for being the bigger man in this situation. Fuck you, Augusta. And fuck you, random dude that my ex-girlfriend is fucking.”

Blood rushed to Augusta’s face. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to smooth things over or if she wanted to wallop him. Leo, probably sensing as much, took her firmly by the hand. Chris spat on the ground and stormed off, nearly barreling into a gawking bystander. Relief welled in her chest as he walked away. But with his receding back went all the romance, all the magic of the evening.

“Asshole,” Leo muttered. With a light hand on the small of her back, he steered them back to the parking lot. Augusta stole a sidelong glance at her knight in shining armor, his sleeves rolled to the elbow as if still ready to fight. “Have you ever actually punched someone?”

He shot her an amused look. “I might have in some of my wilder days. Definitely never in defense of the honor of such a beautiful woman, though.”

A little thrill ran through her at his words. For all the drama and disappointment of the night, she was leaving with the right man, and nothing really mattered besides that.