Page 16 of Prime Time Romance

Brynn holds up her hands as if she’s just presented an irrefutable case, but I’m still lost.

“So where are we?”

She pulls the car into a nearby parking spot and cuts the engine.

“We’re in Carson’s Cove.”

I hear her. I compute her words but am as equally confused as I was a moment ago.

“Carson’s Cove is a real place?”

She shakes her head. “No. I mean, it was supposed to be based on a coastal fishing town in Massachusetts, but it doesn’t actually exist.”

“Then how are we…” I can’t even compose my thoughts enough to string together a complete sentence, but Brynn nods as if she gets it.

“That’s the part I can’t figure out.”

We sit for a few moments in silence, watching a mailman make his way down the street. He waves to a woman in linen pants walking two goldendoodles, then to a bald-headed grocer spraying down the display of vegetables outside his shop.

“Josh.”

I’m aware of Brynn calling my name, but I’m too preoccupied with finding a logical explanation.

“Josh.” Her tone turns sharp enough to break through my thoughts.

She points at my thigh. “Will you stop it with the jiggly leg? It’s starting to freak me out.”

My leg is shaking like a jackhammer. I’m way past freaked-out and flat out of ideas.

“Could we have sleepwalked here?”

Her brow crinkles as she contemplates this. “Both of us?”

“Good point. Maybe we were kidnapped?”

She throws up her arms. “I thought that too, but who the hell would want to kidnap us? I need a roommate to pay off my mortgage. You work in a bar. I gotta think there are more profitable kidnappees out there.”

“You’re sure we didn’t do drugs last night?” It’s the only other explanation that makes sense.

She shrugs. “If we did, I don’t remember it. You didn’t eat any of that cake, did you?”

I shake my head. “No, did you?”

She thinks for a moment. “No. But I did—” She doesn’t finish the thought. Instead, she gets out of the car, practically sprints across the street, and stands in front of a redbrick building with a large storefront window.

I follow, and when I cross the street, I find her with her hands cupped around her eyes and her face pressed so close to the glass that it fogs up with every exhale.

“What are you doing?”

She takes a step back, pointing at the window. “That cake last night. It looked an awful lot like the one on that stand, right?”

I glance at the display of cookies and sweets, as well as the cake in question. It does look almost identical to the one Brynn got last night, complete with the birthday candle.

“The name on the box seemed familiar,” Brynn continues. “But I couldn’t place it. The bakery wasn’t really a big part of the show. The only episode where I think it’s mentioned is the one where it’s Sloan’s sixteenth birthday. Everyone forgets because Poppy and Luce are campaigning against each other for who gets to be class president. Fletcher has been doing community service because he stole his aunt’s car. Spencer is stressing out because the new drama teacher seems to have some sort of grudge against him. Then Sloan is all upset until she comes home late to a dark house, and it’s all been a ruse for a surprise party.” She looks like she’s going to continue with her story but stops, her eyes searching my face.

“Sorry, you didn’t need all of that background info. My point is that the name on the box from last night is the same as the one on this storefront.” She points to the etching on the glass that reads Bake a Wish. “I didn’t make the connection at first, but I’m absolutely sure now that the bakery box was from Carson’s Cove.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense.”