Penny was bursting with excitement when she went to work the next morning after Bill gave her a ride home. She wanted to tell the world, but she wanted to do it in a certain way and she had to force herself to patience.
"New case," Grant told her when she arrived. "Don and Betsy Walker, 52 and 50 respectively. Phoenix, Arizona. He owns some 50 car dealerships in 4 states. He's our client. It seems that his wife has been having an affair with one of the salesmen in one of his dealerships. Arizona is a community property state, which means that any assets acquired during a marriage are split equally in the event of a divorce. They have a pre-nup which says that the dealerships are his and not community property. He only had 20 dealerships at that time. Needless to say, he doesn't want to give her any of the dealerships, feels that they're his. Since the pre-nup didn't specify current or future dealerships, the intent of the pre-nup could be left up to interpretation."
"What can we do?" Penny asked.
"As ever, investigate the two parties, find out what's going on, then see what our options are," Grant replied.
Penny couldn't wait to get to the airport after lunch, pleased to see that Bill was there waiting for her.
"I want to learn to do take-offs and landings today," Penny said after kissing him.
"Then let's do it," Bill agreed.
20 take-offs and landings later, Penny felt as though she could do it in her sleep.
"I just love flying this thing," she said when they finally called it a day. "It handles like a really nice car, nice and tight, yet powerful. The Cessna is more like a tractor, dependable, but it's a tractor, loud and noisy, and it feels clumsy in comparison. When do you think that I can solo?" she asked.
"You keep putting in the hours, I don't see why you shouldn't do it next week," Bill replied.
"Then I can fly by myself?" Penny asked.
"You can do that now," Bill replied, "but I'd recommend getting another 30-40 hours under your belt with an instructor."
"You mean you," Penny said.
"I'm happy to help," Bill said.
"Can we do a flight to Nassau?" Penny asked.
"No reason not to," Bill replied.
"Let's do it on Saturday," Penny said. "That way my roommate can come with us. I've been dying to tell her, but I've been keeping the whole flying thing a secret until I was sure that I'd accomplished what I wanted. Going to Nassau will be the cherry on the cake. You'll like Amy. She's great in bed."
"I thought you said that we were going to go flying," Bill said.
"We are, but we can also take a break and fuck," Penny said.
"The three of us?" Bill asked, staring at her open-mouthed.
"Sure," Penny replied. "Why not? Amy and I share everything, especially men. You'll see. Oh, I want to have a name for the plane. Can I do that?"
"As long as it's not something obscene, sure," Bill replied. "I was also going to suggest that you have the plane gone over with a fine-toothed comb. The maintenance records look good, but it would be smart to check everything. Craig can do it. He can also see to having a name painted on it."
"Great," Penny said. "Let him do that. Have him put..."
"You are too much," Bill laughed.
Saturday morning dawned and Penny told Amy that she had a surprise for her after they'd eaten each other to several orgasms.
"Does it have anything to do with your secret that you've been keeping from me?" Amy asked as they showered.
"Yes," Penny replied, grinning.
"Does it involve a man, I hope?" Amy asked with a laugh.
"That, too," Penny replied.
"This should be fun," Amy said.
Penny drove to the airport. She could tell that Amy was bursting to ask questions.
"What are we doing here?" Amy asked when Penny parked next to her hangar.
"I wanted to show you my new toy," Penny said, using her key to get the hangar door to roll up, revealing her Eclipse.
"This is your new toy?" Amy asked, staring at her. "Are you serious? A jet?"
"What do you think?" Penny asked.
"I think that you're crazy," Amy laughed. "But I love the name, Divorce Pays. That's hysterical."
"Hi, Bill," Penny called out when she saw him approaching.
"Nice!" Amy said under her breath as she watched him.
"Bill Cochrane, Amy Harrison," Penny introduced. "Bill taught me how to fly."
"You can fly this thing?" Amy gasped, staring at her. "You can't be serious."
"You willing to find out?" Penny asked.
"What, now? Go flying? In that? With you driving?" Amy asked.
"Bill will come with us," Penny said.
"If you kill me, I'll never talk to you again," Amy said.
They got settled in the plane and Penny contacted the tower for clearance to take off.
"Oh, my god!" Amy practically screamed as Penny took off. "I cannot believe this! You're actually flying a jet," she said, starting to laugh. "Where are we going? Why are we over the ocean?" she asked, her voice shaky.
"We're going to lunch," Penny explained. "The Old Fort Bay Club."
"Are we going to Nassau?" Amy gasped. "Is that why you've done all of this, so that you can go to Nassau?" she asked.
"It's only 30 minutes take-off to landing," Penny said.
"You are without a doubt the craziest person I've ever known," Amy laughed. "Oh, my god!"
"You got this?" Bill asked as they approached New Providence Island. "There's a cross wind, 20 knots, from the left."
"Penny, you do know what you're doing, right?" Amy asked as Penny contacted the tower for clearance to land.
"Nice job," Bill said as Penny lightly set the plane on the ground, then taxied to the parking place that she had been assigned.
"I cannot believe this," Amy said, shaking her head as they made their way to customs and presented their driver's licenses. "Hey, how did the Jeep get here?" she asked when she saw it.
"I called Frank and asked him to bring it," Penny replied as they got in. "Let's go to the house first, then we'll go eat."
"Nice place," Bill said when they entered the house.
"This house is insanely nice," Amy said.
"Ella!" Penny cried out, hugging her as she came up.
"I knew you'd be back," Ella said, a big smile creasing her face.
"Hello, Ella," Amy said, hugging her.
"Who's this good-looking guy?" Ella asked, eyeing Bill.
"This is Bill, a friend and my flying instructor," Penny introduced.
"Flying instructor? You learning to fly?" Ella asked.
"I've already got my license and a plane," Penny said, smiling broadly.
"Well, I'll be," Ella laughed. "You're even crazier than I already thought."
"Saw you land," Frank said as he entered the room. "Nice and easy. That you?" he asked, looking at Bill.
"That was all Penny," Bill said, smiling.
"Ella's right, you are crazy," Frank said, laughing.
"Navy man?" Bill asked, seeing the tattoo on his shoulder.
"Master Chief, SEALS," Frank replied. "You?"
"Captain, Top Gun instructor," Bill replied, smiling.
"No shit," Frank laughed. "You ever at sea?"
"Did a tour on the John C Stennis before they bumped me to Top Gun school," Bill replied.
"You mean like Tom Cruise Top Gun?" Amy asked.
"That's right," Frank said, nodding. "Best of the best. Pleased to meet you, Captain," he said, shaking hands. "I spent a bit of time on the Theodore Roosevelt, among others."
"It's Bill, Master Chief," he said.
"And I'm Frank."
"You didn't say anything to Frank about lunch," Ella said. "I got enough to put something together if you're hungry."
"We're going to eat at the Club, Ella," Penny said. "We'll come back for a swim, then we need to get back to West Palm Beach. But you're going to be seeing a lot of me from now on."
"Glad to hear it," Ella said. "Place is a lot happier with you and Amy here."
"Nice couple," Bill said as they drove the short distance to the club.
"The best," Penny said. "They take care of the house. Ella is a Cordon Bleu trained chef. Her garlic mashed potatoes are to die for."
They all had crab cakes and bowls of conch chowder, then Penny opted for mahi-mahi and cracked conch, Amy ordered the lobster mac and cheese, and Bill ordered the steak and fries. They all had the pear-and-fig cobbler for dessert.
"Have you told your parents yet?" Amy asked.
"No," Penny replied. "I wanted to tell you first. I want to bring them over next weekend. You want to come?"
"Try to keep me away," Amy laughed.
"Can you come, Bill?" Penny asked. "I'm not sure that I'm ready to do it on my own yet."
"I'm glad that you realize that," Bill said. "I'd be happy to."
"I'm ready for a swim," Penny said. "How about you?"