Page 59 of Free to Judge (Amaryllis Heritage #2)

I check my GPS to make certain I’m not in the wrong location because unless I drove through a time portal of some kind, I’m supposed to be in Mooseberry, Maine—population seventy-eight.

When my friend offered to lend me this place for the summer to decompress without hoardes of paparazzi shadowing my every movement, Arek was transparent about the nosey neighbors I’d encounter, the potholes in his driveway that appeared no matter how many times he’d patched them, and the gorgeous jetty off the back of the house.

But what sold me on the place was its solitude.

His seriousness when he informed me, “They’ve had an enormous population growth in the last few years.

Big event getting the town sign updated and everything,” was music to my ears.

“How many people used to live here?”

“Sixty-two and that’s if Sula, the kids, and I weren’t in residence,” he names his wife of many years.

I lift a hand off the wheel and scrub it against my eyes to ensure I’m not hallucinating.

No, the people are still there. Then, I have to hunt for parking which is why I’m both flabbergasted and irritated when I finally get in line to the place Are described as, “the only decent place to get food if you don’t want to cook for yourself. ”

Is it some kind of special event where not only the entire town of Mooseberry must be eating out, but so must the surrounding towns.

I, who have never had to wait for a table in my life, am informed it might be close to two hours before I’m sat. “Less if you don’t mind eating at the counter,” the hostess snaps her gum at me.

“That’s fine.”

“Then here’s your post card. On the back is a number we’ll call out when we’re ready to seat you.”

“Thanks.” Even as I move away, the next harried couple is already pushing their way forward to get their name on a still expanding list of potential patrons. It makes me intrigued.

Curious.

And considering what I do for a living, I’m halfway tempted to get a crew out here to shoot B-roll for a future episode featuring this little treasure in the woods.

But right now, after everything that happened, I value my sanity more.

After all, it’s not every day the great-grandson of a US senator, the heir to billions, and one of the most famous faces on FoodNetwork—a man who has lived in the spotlight for his entire life—is contemplating walking away from it all.