Hardwired Read online

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  Seagulls fought over a piece of food in the hospital parking lot. Clary leaned against her car, watching them squabble, and sent Jesse a text about the clothes.

  My God, that was a first. When Leefe had opened her eyes, Clary had felt something reach inside her. Her mother always said Elizabeth Taylor had violet eyes, but they’d only looked blue to her. Leefe’s eyes truly were shades of light lilac, mixed with gray, and surrounded by dark, long eyelashes.

  She’d thought Leefe was a teenager the night with the ambulance, and she still looked young and fragile in the hospital bed. She was certainly unusual and totally gorgeous. The eyes would get you if nothing else, or the wide mouth, and that shaggy-on-purpose black hair that framed the delicate face. The soft, clear voice held a lot of confusion, but judging from the bruises and a concussion, it made sense.

  Clary started her car, thinking of Leefe’s bruises. Someone had done more than hit her. They’d beaten her.

  Now that she’d seen Leefe, she again wondered why Jesse and Piper argued over her. Jesse had always been a flirt but never a cheater. Still, she’d ridden to the hospital with Leefe and then asked Clary to bring her clothes today. Something was off. Maybe it was simply Jesse’s need for control. Jesse had been that way with Sharon and even herself when they were growing up.

  Clary drove north along Lake Michigan. It was warm but the lake breeze kept the comfort level steady. June along the lake often teased them with daytime heat and then threw cool at you once the sun went down. There were boats on the water and people fishing on the rocks as she took the loop through the harbor, heading north to Breakers Elementary School.

  When she climbed the school’s stairs, she turned toward the cafeteria. It still smelled like floor wax and dust. Everyone looked up when she entered, and the first person she recognized was Howie McCardle. They grinned at each other as he put his hands up in mock-defense. Clary gave his shoulder a light punch. “Am I never going to live this down?” She bent to hug Beverly, the older woman sitting next to him, someone she’d known forever, and a good family friend.

  Piper leaned against the table, and Clary did a little double-take. Her sand-colored silk blouse and dark brown skirt gave her a warm, professional appearance. It was the first time she’d been around her as anything other than casual, and it was like seeing a whole new person. Piper began the introductions. Howie was the police liaison, Beverly supervised South Port’s social services, and the rest were teachers.

  “Great timing, Clary,” Piper said. “I was about to launch into what I knew of your experience in Chicago. How long ago was that?”

  “Twelve years, when this idea was just forming in education. I brought the syllabus, our group structure, and everything else I had on my computer. I thought you might be interested in what we did.” Clary handed out a rainbow of colored folders she’d prepared yesterday at the local printer’s. “We taught for two years and didn’t hit one hundred percent, but we made a dent. Check out the photos in the front of the folder.”

  “The kids aren’t too clean, but look at those smiles,” Beverly commented, turning the pages.

  “A local dental and medical clinic helped us, pro bono. This only covered a small area, maybe eight square city blocks.”

  “What was the average age?”

  “Most were ten. Younger and a lot poorer than here.” Clary turned to the group to see if they had questions.

  “A lot poorer? Most of these kids are homeless.” A young man with trim brown hair frowned at her.

  Clary’s mind stuttered and then she remembered what Jesse had said on the jetties the other night about Piper’s classes.

  “Something else,” Piper said, reaching into a box. She held up an iPad and handed one to each of them. “All the information about each child is on here, as well as the structure of the program, and there’s something at the very end, slanted toward your specialty.” She handed one to Clary. “I managed to wrangle one for you.”

  “Sweet,” Clary said. She’d been thinking of buying one. “How did you manage this?”

  “The company did for everyone involved in the program. When this is over, they want daily notes from each class.” She wiggled her iPad at them. “Once they have the information, and since we’re not getting paid, we all get to keep these.”

  Everyone in the room nodded and smiled. Beverly sneezed. “Sorry, allergies. This old building drives me crazy. Pity anyone that suffers with asthma.” She shook a tissue at Clary. “If your folks had gotten their way, this building would have an efficient ventilation system.”

  Clary nodded. “It just didn’t work. Well, you know my parents.”

  “Who didn’t know them after the fight with the town over this school?” Beverly reached for another tissue. “They’d probably be in prison if they were still here.”

  “Classes will officially start the last week of this month.” Piper addressed the group again. “We’ll meet the kids with their parents or guardians the week before we begin. The company is providing juice and cookies, and dress casually. Some of these kids barely have clothes.”

  “Not to mention food,” Beverly said. “I’ll bring sandwiches. It might be the only meal they’ll have that day.”

  Clary spoke up. “Mojo’s food stand can donate the sandwiches. I’ll take care of that. Beverly, how about fruit? Apples or whatever.”

  Howie offered milk, and Piper nodded, holding up the iPad again. “All of our e-mails are on here, plus some personal information about each child, thanks to Beverly, Howie, and of course, Jesse. If anything occurs to you along the way, shoot me a note. I’m the coordinator, and I’ll want your ideas after you’ve read the information. Also, I’ve pointed the whole program toward the inequality and classism-racism thing, so let’s give these kids a boost before the fall. Maybe we can level the playing field a little for them.”

  Piper looked out at the group, suddenly serious. “I’ll teach if needed, but this is really your challenge. Let’s meet again next Monday, same time, right here. Read the information on the iPad and bring ideas with you.”

  Everyone began to leave, but Piper motioned for Clary to wait. “Want to come over to the house? You didn’t get to see it the other night because of the hoopla with Leefe. I’d like to do it without Jesse. She’s a wreck because we’ve changed it. I think she adopted your family at some point.”

  Clary gathered her things. “It’s a tossup who adopted who, to be honest. I can hardly wait to see what you’ve done.”

  Chapter Four

  Clary left her shoes in the car and, barefoot, walked to the back entrance everyone had used as long as she’d lived in this house. She looked at the roof and the newly stained green cedar shake shingles. The windows looked as if they’d been replaced. She called out, giving the kitchen door a little shake.

  “You don’t have to knock. This is your house too,” Piper said. “Come in.”

  The same dark oak cabinets Clary had grown up around were there, but the table and dark blue countertops were new. “I wanted to come inside the night I got home, but as you said, that whole evening got turned around.” Clary took the glass of iced tea that Piper handed her. “I like your table.”

  “I grew up with this. It was Mom and Dad’s table.” Piper had changed into white shorts and a red T-shirt that said Dragon Boat Races.

  “Nice outfit you had on today, but what’s that about?” Clary gestured at Piper’s T-shirt.

  “Jesse and I rowed for the police department last summer. I had a great time, but she didn’t. We came in third.”

  “Still Ms. Competitive and Control, isn’t she?”

  Piper smiled a little. “She tries, but real life gets in the way. The last thing her doctor parents envisioned for their only child was law enforcement, but I’m sure you know that.”

  “They dumped a lot of pressure on her.” Clary held up Piper’s iPad. “Thanks for the iPad. I have some catching up to do on the homeless.”

  “The la
st three years of school history is on there, including a district-by-district breakdown of problem areas. Then you should probably read this.” Piper handed her a book. “Jesse will help, but Beverly’s my main information lady.”

  “Beverly may be older, but there’s nothing old-fashioned about her thinking, and she’s never afraid of controversy. Oddly enough, she was the first adult I came out to and has been a great friend. I love her common sense. What about Howie?”

  “He did three years as a Milwaukee street cop and helps with local homeless kids, but he’ll be pressed for time. What am I saying? They’re all pressed for time. You won’t believe the hours that Jesse works. It’s crazy and makes her aggressive and grouchy.”

  “She’s always been aggressive, but I’m sorry to hear about the grouchy part.” Clary examined the cover of the book that Piper had given her. “Jonathan Kozel? I used to read him when I had a brain.”

  “That’s his follow-up on the homeless kids that he taught.” Piper studied her for a moment. “What’s wrong with your brain?”

  “I did a pretty good imitation of the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz last year, and buried myself in teaching to survive. A major city could have been bombed and I might have missed it.”

  “I get it,” Piper said with some sympathy. “Come on, let’s look at the house.”

  The dining room was the same. The man that bought this house was single and had kept some of her parents’ furniture. She bent, looked at the bottom of the long dining room table, and there they were. Three sets of initials. Sharon’s, Jesse’s, and hers.

  Piper turned back. “What are you doing?”

  Clary pointed at the bottom of the table and grinned. “Sharon carved our initials there when she and Jesse were ten and I was eight. My mother about killed us.”

  “Jesse says Sharon was the biggest hell-raiser she ever knew, and I’ve heard it from others as well. That was a mess, wasn’t it?”

  “I had just finished grad school in England, sixteen years ago, and was getting ready to come home when Sharon went missing. Jesse’s right about the hell-raising business, but I still miss her.”

  “So does Jesse.” Piper turned abruptly and walked into the living room.

  Clary noticed Piper’s sharp words and followed. Of all the rooms in this house, this one felt the most like home. The tall windows bent with the arc of the house, all the way around the front. Sometimes it felt as if you were outside when you stepped inside. The walls were now stark white, replacing the faded pumpkin color her mother had used. All the earth colors had been replaced by black leather furniture with bright red and gray fixtures.

  “It’s beautiful. Smart and modern.” Clary walked to the front entryway, turned, and looked back toward Piper. “Nice job.”

  “Home free, thank God. Jesse was certain you wouldn’t like it. I still catch her out here, turning in a circle,” Piper said as the phone rang, and she left for the kitchen.

  Clary wandered around the room. Her father always said this house had good bones.

  “Clary,” Piper said, walking toward her with the phone. “It’s Kaye. They want to have dinner on their boat tomorrow night and watch the first race of the season. Are you available?”

  “Sounds like fun, but tell her I’m wearing ratty old shorts and a T-shirt.”

  Piper made a face and held the phone away from her ear. “She says no. Wear something nice, but shorts are fine.”

  Ah, the tip-off, Clary thought. Kaye was setting her up again.

  Piper raised her eyes to Clary’s. “Really,” she said into the phone and walked back to the kitchen.

  Clary watched her go. Kaye had been a part of the old neighborhood gang and the same age as Sharon and Jesse. She’d never been close to Kaye. Aunt Mo, who never said an unkind word about anyone, grudgingly gave Kaye credit for her nursing skills, but didn’t like her party girl habits.

  “Let’s sit outside.” Piper walked briskly by, their glasses in her hands. Clary followed to the swing in the screened-in portion of the wraparound porch. The lake was late-afternoon hazy, and boats bobbed like sea gulls on the water.

  “I truly miss this house.” Clary eased down beside her, and then grinned. “But I haven’t missed Kaye.”

  “You know she’s trying to set you up.”

  “Of course I do.” Clary jiggled her foot, making the porch swing sway.

  “She says her cousin’s beautiful and crazy-sexy.”

  “She is, if it’s Felice, but I’d better wear body armor. The woman’s worse than Kaye. I swear she had at least ten hands the first time I met her, right after the disaster with my first love in Chicago.” Clary gave the swing another little push. “I moved to Iowa the next week.”

  “Ouch.” Piper laughed. “Felice didn’t interest you?”

  “Not much interested me that summer. I was too busy being wrecked.”

  “Was that the pilot? Jesse said she was a looker and smart.”

  The pilot was a part of her life that Clary wished she could delete, and her first big stumble. “An air force pilot, transferred to Germany, and then the Mideast. I was just a distraction, and clueless.” She took a drink of her tea. “Honestly? Felice reminds me of the pilot. Stunning, but she knows it. For that matter, Robin had some of that too. Well, you met her, so you know what I’m talking about.”

  “Robin was sort of breathtaking, but you might have a point about the attitude.”

  “I don’t hate Robin. I just never want to see her again. It’s Hannah that I miss.”

  “Have you tried dating?”

  “That’s a joke.” Clary gave a short laugh. “Two really cool women asked me out, but it was like I’d forgotten how. Fascinating women, but my body never caught up, and I ended up with two great friends. Does that make sense?”

  “Sure it does. Look what you’ve just been through. Besides, you can never have enough friends,” Piper said, and then laughed. “Well, maybe you can leave Kaye out of that group.”

  “Kaye was a horrible influence on Sharon as long as they knew each other.”

  Piper shook her head. “I’m sorry to say Kaye’s a terrible gossip. Worse, she mistreats her partner. Have you met Zip?”

  “No, but Kaye told me about her, the last time we were here.”

  “She made sure I knew that she’d seen you leaving the hospital today as she went to work.”

  “I took some clothes to that woman, Leefe.” Clary pulled in a breath. “Jesse stopped by this morning on her way to court and asked me to stop by the hospital.”

  Piper looked away, frowning. “I’ve never met Leefe, but I’ve seen her around. She manages the city’s day care for homeless children and does a great job. Beverly says she’d have made a fantastic teacher if she’d had our opportunities. There’s something else she does for the police, but you’ll have to ask Jesse about that. It’s a little murky.” She shrugged. “No one has a bad thing to say about Leefe Ellis, but something’s unsettled between her and Jesse. And she’s so pretty. People always look twice. I did when I first saw her.” Piper retreated into silence for a moment. “We had the fight of our life over Leefe last fall. I’ll bet Jesse didn’t tell you that I packed up and went to Mom and Dad’s for a week.”

  “No, she didn’t, but we did talk,” Clary said. “She seems to think Leefe has some information about why Sharon left. That conversation morphed into my situation with Robin, and there are similarities. I do want to know what I did to make her take Hannah and leave. At the same time, I understand it won’t change a single thing.”

  “See, you know it won’t change anything if you find out.” Piper stood abruptly. “I’m not sure Jesse understands that, and then she’s very protective of Leefe, sometimes even controlling. This is not jealousy. It’s frustration. She’s stressed and tired from all those hours on the job, and then comes home and works some more. She has paperwork from Sharon’s case, her own notes, and goes over them constantly.” Piper waved her hands vaguely. “She’s obsessed and I�
��m worried about her. Do you think she’s changed?”

  “No, other than I’ve never seen her clean a table like she did the other night, and I swear I did not know she could cook.” She looked at Piper. “She was clear that she loves you.”

  “As I said, this isn’t about us. It’s about her obsession.” Piper opened the screen door. “I found something in the basement that I know you’d want. Be right back.”

  “Oh boy,” Clary said under her breath after Piper left. She genuinely liked Piper. What was wrong with Jesse? She rocked the swing. Maybe Thomas Wolfe was right and you couldn’t go home again, but hours that used to drag now flew by, and she’d slept deeply in Sharon’s old room. The therapist had said home is where everything always begins. Or ends.

  She leaned forward to get a look at the flowers in the front yard. She and her mother had planted some of them before she’d gone to England. Many of the same flowers were at her duplex in Iowa under her landlord’s care.

  Jean, her landlord, was a retired schoolteacher. After her husband had been killed in Desert Storm, she’d turned the house into a duplex to survive financially. Between the two of them, they kept the place up to code, and the yard mowed, but it was the flowers and shrubs that made it a charming piece of real estate. Jean had even joined a garden club. The flowers would be well-tended, all summer long.

  The only problem she’d ever had with Jean was when she’d first brought Robin and three-month-old Hannah home, but it wasn’t long until Jean was begging to babysit. Hannah’s dark, curly hair, bright blue eyes, and happy smile captured almost everybody.

  Clary gripped the arm of the swing, unable to stop the next memory. Jean had been waiting on the front porch steps when Clary came home late after a school meeting. Robin had taken most of their things and Hannah, and was gone. She’d struggled through the first weeks alone, until she’d sat up all night with Jean, drinking some really good wine, laughing and crying over life without the people they loved. The next week Jean had driven her to a therapist.