“I think maybe everything about you is complicated.” That soft chuckle again. “How can a name be complicated?”
“Legally, I still have Kent’s name, and as much as I want to change it, I can’t bear the thought of going back to my maiden name.”
“Okay, so what’s the ex’s name?”
“Butts. It’s horrid.”
“Penny Butts, Penny Butts…” He paused. “Pretty horrid. How bad is your maiden name?”
“My stepdad’s name was John Pyncher. He adopted me when I was three.”
Chaz laughed outright at that. “Penny Pyncher? That’s not so bad.” Except that he was still chuckling.
“Not until you’ve lived with it. But I don’t want to keep Kent’s name either. I want the clean break… I just can’t bring myself to go back to Pyncher.”
Chaz managed to sober himself up enough to look slightly sympathetic.
“So, you see my quandary. A name can be complicated… What’s your last name?”
“Wright.”
Penny giggled a little at that. “Mr. Wright?”
“Lieutenant Charles Ezekiel Wright, ma’am.”
“Of course, Lieutenant.” They sat silently for almost a full minute. “Are you really not going back? You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” He’d seemed to flinch when she asked.
Maybe he wouldn’t answer her. Who was she anyway? The neighbor.
“My commander mentioned a teaching post. But I don’t know… They’ve invested a lot in me. Even if I don’t fly, I imagine they’ll find a way to get me back to work.”
“How long did it take?” She really was interested…
“After I got my engineering degree from the University of Colorado, I entered officer training in Pensacola. From there, I got jets and that’s an automatic eight-year commitment. So, unless they medically discharge me, I’m theirs for three more years.”
“Flight school? Like in the movie?” She could easily imagine him in the white uniform, girls swooning. What girl hadn’t seen An Officer and a Gentlemen and dreamed of being carried off?
“Like in the movie.”
“That was a great movie. Have you see it?”
“You kidding?” He laughed again. Good grief, his laughter curled her toes.
Focus, Penny. There had been some very sad moments in that movie. “Was Officer Candidate School really that grueling?”
Chaz ran his good hand through his hair. “For some.” He shrugged. “It was a challenge, but I love a good challenge. Others seemed to struggle. A handful dropped out.” His words ought to have made him seem overly cocky, and yet he didn’t sound like he was bragging.
“Pine Springs must seem awfully tame after all the places you’ve been.”
Again, that little lift of his shoulder, the good one. “It’s home. And I gotta admit…” His voice dropped an octave… a very sexy octave. “Things around here are looking better every day.”
Penny squirmed. She wished she could see his face.
She wasn’t used to this. A young, good-looking guy, Chaz probably flirted with every female he encountered.
She’d be a fool to take him seriously.
She was a fool to be talking this way with him tonight.
