Prologue:
He gazed up at his second grade teacher, barely able to believe his eyes. Ms. Winston was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen – besides his mother, Denise, of course.
“Franklin Jonas?” The way she called his name during attendance almost felt empowering. He felt as though he could jump off the top of the play structure, land on his feet, and sweep her up in his arms. Even though she was an estimation of two feet taller than him, he didn’t mind. Frankie strongly believed she would be his first and last love; just like what happened with his parents.
“Here,” he choked out shyly.
She flashed him a quick smile and called the following name. “Abbey Jones?”
Frankie whipped his head around and scanned the room to see who could have such a similar last name to him. Seeing a small girl silently raise her hand, he laughed. Abbey had been wearing a baby blue dress with flowered designs across the top and bottom hems. Her hair was done in pigtail braids, and she was still sporting her red rain boots. Catching him staring at her, she flashed him a smile, which consisted of two missing front teeth. Uninterested, he looked back to the front of the room where Ms. Winston stood.
As he sent a wink in her direction (obviously picked up from his three older brothers), she chuckled behind her palm. He knew it wouldn’t be hard to win her over – or so he thought.
