Chapter 1

Despite the suffocating late May heat, and the non-breathable fabric of my lavender polyester dress, this was shaping up to be a very good day.

As a matter of fact, the entire week leading up to my mother’s (second) wedding had been exceptionally good. My mom was finally marrying her boyfriend Stan, which was a good thing since he was decent to her and didn’t try to replace my dad in my life, and as a bridesmaid I had received an iPod (the good kind that holds a gazillion songs) as a wedding party thank you gift.

As if that wasn’t enough, I had aced my dreaded physics test and I got to spend a ton of time with Jason, the über hot son of Stan.

Yes, I understand that being into the guy who is going to be your stepbrother is a bit taboo, but I couldn’t help myself. He was Hot. Yes, so hot that I have to spell it with a capital H.

Yup, good week, full of pre-wedding preparations and rehearsals, which meant lots of face time with Jason.

The only person not happy about the nuptials was my poor dad, who hadn't done anything to get back out there since the divorce. Nothing. Like, not one date or even a profile on an online dating site. He was pretty deep in denial, but this wedding was the final nail in the coffin of his marriage. But more about him later.

So now that the ceremony was over, the brunch had been eaten and a few masochistic individuals were sweating it up on the dance floor under the big white tent, my best friend Alex and I sat at a table sipping our iced teas.

“God, I can’t believe anyone would want to play a wedding gig,” Alex said, a disgusted look on her face as she nodded towards the band.

I snorted. “We haven’t even started our band yet and already you’re too good for weddings?”

“Uh, yeah. No weddings or bar mitzvahs for us, my dear Lilah. We’re going big time.”

I had my doubts since we could barely play, still needed instruments, and so far it was just the two of us. Our dreams of having a band were still just that: dreams.

Alex changed the subject and jerked her thumb towards the guy standing at the bar. “Oh hey, what about that one? He’s cute, you could date him.”

I rolled my eyes. “Are you kidding? That’s my cousin. Ira. You met him at my bat mitzvah?” I couldn’t believe she didn’t remember. “Uh, he was the one who asked you to dance.”

 “Oh right, him.”

“Yeah. Him. The one you came out to. Thanks for that, by the way. That was all I needed—to explain to my family how my twelve-year-old friend was suddenly advertising her alternative lifestyle at the sundae station. I don’t think I’ve thanked you for that recently.”

She shrugged. “What can I say? I was an early bloomer.”

“Yes well, it would have been nice if you’d chosen to come out at your own bat mitzvah.”

Alex snorted as she held the cool glass up to her forehead. It was hard to believe it was only May. Damn, Al Gore was right.

“And anyway, I don’t need you picking out potential guys for me. I think I’m gonna go for Jason.”

My best friend gave me that look, the one where she cocked her head to the side and arched her eyebrows. “Lilah, you can’t date your brother.”

“Stepbrother.”

She waved me off while she took a sip of her tea. “Whatever, it’s still family.”

“Incest is best. Keep it in the family,” I said, giving her a smile. “And it’s not really incest if you’re not blood related. And we weren’t even related until, like, two hours ago.”

She snorted again. “God will strike you down.”

“Uh huh,” I said, scanning the crowd for my new stepbrother.

Until I heard my name.

“Delilah?”

I turned to see my Aunt Rosie standing over me.

“Oh, hi. Want to sit with us? You remember Alex Greenbaum.” I turned to my friend. “This is my Aunt Rose, Mom’s sister. You probably met at my…bat mitzvah.” Yes, it was still a source of embarrassment, even now, two and a half years later.

Aunt Rosie nodded at Alex, a very serious look on her face. “I was very sorry to hear about your sister, Alex. My sincerest condolences.”

Alex nodded back like a pro; she’d been dealing with this kind of thing for six months now. “Thanks.”

Aunt Rosie quickly turned back to me. Without warning, she grabbed my chin tightly in her hand, holding my gaze with her amber eyes. “Everything going okay, Delilah?”

Maybe a little back-story on Aunt Rosie is required. She and Mom are sisters, but sharing a little DNA from their parents is where the similarities end. Mom’s a commercially motivated financial advisor for one of the big banks. Rosie’s a true bohemian chick who makes jewelry in her one-bedroom apartment and sells it at a farmer’s market (and sometimes, if sales aren’t great and she ends up with a surplus, on eBay, thanks to yours truly). She always smells like sandalwood incense and even wore a peasant skirt and Birkenstocks to the wedding, much to my mother’s horror. I suspect she smokes a lot of pot, but have never actually gotten any solid evidence. But no one could be that boho without smoking something, right?

Anyway, there she was, holding my face and staring at me while she waited for my answer. It was a bit freaky.

“Yeah, I’m fine Aunt Rosie.”

She frowned, but let go of my face. “I see something.”

I grabbed the compact out of my tiny clutch purse and held it up to my face. “What? Do I have food on my face? Am I breaking out or something? I knew I shouldn’t have eaten all that cake at the rehearsal…”

“No, Delilah, not a blemish on your face, but a blemish on your soul.”

See what I mean?

“I’m fine, Aunt Rosie, really, maybe it’s just…” I was going to say the stress of the wedding or my period was coming, but before I could finish she squealed and flittered off, having suddenly noticed the sweet table.

“She must have the munchies,” Alex said, echoing my own thoughts.

I watched my aunt load up a plate with sweets and fruit and then head over to the bar for what undoubtedly was not her first glass of champagne. She was weird, but totally harmless, and usually a good source of amusement. I shrugged it off, not paying much attention to what she had said.

“Wanna dance?” Alex asked halfheartedly. There wasn’t much else to do.

I shook my head. “Too hot.” Especially if it wasn’t with Jason. Him I would get sweaty with.

I scanned the tables, looking for Mom and Stan. They were still doing their rounds, thanking each group for coming and sharing their day with them. The plan was for them to leave at four so they could go home and change before heading out on their honeymoon. My dad would pick Alex and me up at four-thirty, unless I called and told him different. I thought it would be cruel to ask him to come and pick me up early when there was a chance Mom and Stan would still be there. I couldn’t bear to rub his nose in it, even if it was beyond time for him to move on.

“Yeah, so, Lilah, when do you think we’ll get out of here?”

“Four-thirty.”

Alex sighed but pushed herself up off her chair. “If I’m gonna be stuck here another two hours, I’m gonna need to re-hydrate. You want another drink?”

I nodded.

As I watched her walk through the small group of dancers, I noticed movement to my right. I turned to see Jason, my new stepbrother, heading right for me. My heart skipped. He was just so good looking; it was a refreshing surprise every time I looked at him.

“Mind if I sit?” he asked, nodding at the chair beside me.

“Please.”

He dropped into the chair. “Having a good time?”

I shrugged. “Other than melting, I guess I am.”

He snorted. “Try wearing a tux.”

“No thanks. You win.” I smiled, unwilling to engage in a game of one-up by telling him I could feel the sweat dripping down to pool in the small of my back and that my pantyhose was currently welded uncomfortably to my thighs. Some things you just don’t share with your new brother. Er, stepbrother.

“It’s a nice place here, huh?” Jason asked, making an effort to look around the grounds of the country club.

It was a nice place, but hardly worthy of mentioning. I mean, it was a golf course and some gardens surrounding a big building. Big deal.

“Yeah,” I said in agreement, not sure what else I was supposed to say. Small talk had never really been my forte.

“Want to go for a walk and look around?”

Oh. Now that made sense. He had been picking up on my telepathic messages all week, the ones that said, “Even though we will soon be related by marriage, it is not wrong for us to date because technically we are not related by blood.”

“Sure,” I said aloud, trying to catch Alex’s eye over my shoulder as I stood up. I managed to make contact and she nodded and winked, clearly getting it.

It was a tricky thing, walking in the grass in my heels, but I managed, keeping my weight on my toes so as to avoid a divot disaster. I wasn’t sure if we had an actual destination, but I didn’t care. Wherever Jason wanted to take me was fine with me—groundskeeper shed, caddy shack, back of his car, whatever.

“So,” he began. “It’s been cool hanging out with you through all this wedding stuff.”

I looked over at him and noticed a small bump on the top of his nose.  Nothing huge that you’d notice if you weren’t really close, but it was there. I wondered if it was from an injury or something he was born with. I realized I needed to say something so as to not seem like a freak.

“Yeah, I mean, your dad’s cool, but with all the stuff going on it’s nice to have someone my own age…” I felt lame, like I couldn’t even contribute anything interesting to the conversation. Not that Jason was quoting Plato or anything.

We got to a clump of trees and Jason ducked down to enter the little wood without clotheslining himself. I didn’t have to duck, even with the heels; there were some advantages to being really short. I still wasn’t sure where we were going, but he seemed to have a plan so I let him lead me through the trees. Despite the lack of air movement it was noticeably cooler under the protection of the leafy canopy above, so that at least was a bonus.

I heard the thwack of a club hitting a ball and turned to see a group of men teeing off just beyond our little stand of trees.

Jason stopped walking and leaned up against a huge trunk. Judging by the shape of its leaves, a few which were scattered on the ground, probably in protest against the heat, the tree was a maple. Jason reached into the inside pocket of his jacket. “So, Lilah, do you smoke?”

I shook my head, slightly disappointed he was going to light up. I had hoped this rendezvous in the woods meant a little inappropriate family groping and kissing, but apparently he only wanted an accomplice to his bad habit.

But instead of a pack of cigarettes, he pulled out a joint. “You sure?”

I thought about it.

Sure, I’d smoked pot a couple of times before, but never when I would have to be alert and potentially have conversations with my mother, grandparents, stepfather, rabbi, etcetera. It just didn’t seem like a good idea.

I shook my head. “No thanks, but don’t let me stop you.”

He smiled and stepped closer. Close enough that I could feel his breath on my face. It smelled like the cheese and onion tartlettes that had been passed before the salmon entrée. It didn’t really bother me, even though the onion was kind of strong. Some things you get over if you’re about to hook up. I looked up into his eyes, knowing he was going to kiss me.

Brother, shmother, I was totally okay with it.

More than okay.

He leaned down and brushed my lips with his.

A jolt went through my body, right from the top of my head down to my pinched toes in my shoes dyed the color of lilacs. Putting my hands on his shoulders, I leaned up to kiss him again. Taboos be damned; it felt good.

“Oh shit,” he said, the words muffled because he was saying them against my lips.

I pushed back. “What?” Was I that bad a kisser?

He dug around in his pocket. “I forgot a light. Shit. I’ll go get one, you stay here.”

I blinked as I looked at him, incredulous that he would all of a sudden be worried about lighting his joint, even though he had been in the middle of kissing me.

I’d have to ask Aunt Rosie what it was about pot that made people get weird and illogical.

“Okay,” I said, shrugging.

“I’ll be right back. And I’ll get us some drinks, too.”

I nodded and watched as he jogged back towards the huge tent, wondering if this was just going to be a wedding day fling or if he actually liked me. He didn’t go to my school since he lived with my mom and Stan on the other side of town from me and my dad. But he did have his own car, so that would help since I’d almost rather die than ride the bus, especially in this kind of heat.

Although it was shady under the canopy of the trees, I noticed it suddenly got dark out in the clearing. I stepped out and looked up to see a big storm cloud rolling in just as a few big drops of rain fell on my face. I headed back under the tree to wait for Jason where I was reasonably sure I’d stay dry.

Would Mom think it was weird for me to date my stepbrother? Was it weird to date my stepbrother? It felt kind of naughty, but who was I to turn down the attentions of such a super-hot guy? And it’s not like I had a ton of offers back at school. Alex and I were among the mediocres at Sherman High, neither popular nor notoriously unpopular. People just didn’t seem to notice us. That meant we didn’t get asked out a lot. Okay, it meant we got asked out pretty much never.

God’s okay with stepbrothers and sisters dating, isn’t he? I couldn’t imagine there was any sort of biblical law against hooking up with your step-sibling. It still felt a bit weird, though.

Aw what the hell. Who cares what God thinks anyway? We live in a secular world these days. I hadn’t even been to synagogue since Mom forced me last Yom Kippur. And it’s not like she paid attention to the service either.  I was fairly sure that while the rabbi was droning on about being a good Jew, she was planning her country club wedding.

A shiver ran through me and all the little hairs on my arms stood on end. I looked up through the canopy of the huge tree, but couldn’t see to the sky above.

There was a sudden, deafening SNAP!

And then everything went dark.