Free Deliciously Obedient by Julia Kent

seen
anything quite so explicit.”
    Jeremy
could feel Lydia’s breathing stop.
    “ Explicit?”
he said calmly as Miles shot him an unreadable look.
    “ Have
you ever seen a woman do certain…things..with her…” Pete tried
to explain, looking to Sandy for help.
    Oh,
holy hell. What was this about?

    Lydia
could feel her heart exploding and imploding all at once. Mom and Dad
had seen the video.
    Mom
and Dad had seen the video .
    This
was why she’d been asked to come here. And with Jeremy. Why with
Jeremy? Wouldn’t they want to leave him out of it? There was no
reason to think he was the guy in it—the news covered the fact that
it was Michael Bournham all too well.
    And
why now? It had been a month. More than a month. Maybe it took that
long to get on their radar screens, because Mom and Dad weren’t
exactly hip to social media. She gave Miles a searching look, and he
mouthed, “ Not me .”
    She
believed him.
    Then
who?
    Sandy
pulled out her smart phone and handed it to Lydia. “You have to see
for yourself.”
    No.
God, no. Of all the scenarios she’d imagined in which her parents
learned about the video, sitting together and watching it at the same
time had never played into her nightmares.
    This
was just too much. Lydia sat there, completely frozen, until Sandy
took the phone back and watched Lydia with deep concern.
    A
few taps and Sandy hit play .
    On
a video that was, blessedly, not her and Mike.
    It
was a video of a woman playing “God Bless America” on a kazoo.
    Except
she didn’t use her mouth to play it.
    Jeremy
and Miles watched the video with her, faces impassive, then shocked,
then intrigued, and—finally—the whole group rolled with laughter,
tears streaming down faces, Lydia’s belly shaking with joy a little
too hard, her chest swelling with giggles that poured out for a tiny
bit longer than they should have, sheer relief driving her.
    Oh,
thank you, universe.
    “ Dad,
are you asking me to—um, to do—”
    Jeremy’s
voice rose above the titters. “Can you do that? If so, please marry
me.”
    Another
round of laughter.
    “ Can
you believe someone sent that to me and asked if she could perform
that skit in the show?” Pete said. “Your mother just about died.”
    “ Let
me guess. Was it Grandma? Because I could totally see Grandma wanting
to perform that.”
    Pete’s
turn to roll his eyes. He drained his beer and said, “No, thank
God. If I had to watch Madge do that it would be an early grave for
me.”
    Sandy
punched him in the arm but said nothing. Miles and Lydia exchanged a
look of relief, while Jeremy seemed to just take them all in. Lydia
wondered what he thought of them.
    And
whatever it was, she really hoped it involved staying.
    Krysta
walked in and did a double take. “Where has everyone been?”
    “ Where
have we been?” Lydia said, gawking. “Where have you been?”
    “ Cooking!
Caleb came back and asked for help.” Her cheeks pinked, and Sandy
gave her a knowing look. “Do you have any idea the level of
preparation that goes into this talent show?”
    “ No.
None at all,” Lydia said dryly.
    “ Your
brother had me start chopping vegetables already. Ever work on three
bushels of tomatoes?” She held up hands that were bright red. “Even
with the best knives, finely sharpened, it’s a ton of work.”
Krysta was beaming in spite of the complaining words, and Lydia felt
good. Not just because of the wine cooler, which she drained as
Jeremy reached down to fish another for her.
    Because
so many parts of her life were coming together in the right ways.
    Mike .
    Damn
it. Again?
    Why
did he haunt her so? Just when she thought she could let go…he came
back in.
    “ Can
I talk to you for a sec, Lydia?” Krysta asked, nodding her head
toward the main office.
    Reluctant
to unwind from the warmth of Jeremy, Lydia obliged. BFFs call—you
answer. The office was blessedly warm, which made it easier. Plus the
wine cooler was loosening her up.
    “