Excerpt from Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise

Annie Crow Knoll:  Sunrise by Gail Priest is still a few books down on my end-of-summer reading list--but I may finally begin it this weekend.  Today, I am lucky enough to host an excerpt from Annie Crow Knoll:  Sunrise by author Gail Priest today--and I am more excited to read it now than before!

Note:  I received a complimentary copy of the ebook for participating in the book's blog tour. 

Summary of Annie Crow Knoll:  Sunrise.  Annie Crow Knoll-Sunrise is the story of a place where people come to restore their spirits, heal their pain and reclaim their lives. Annie is a determined young woman who is left to run her family's property after the death of her parents. Managing fourteen summer cottages with only the help of a family friend, she struggles to survive on her own.

When she meets Drew, a young college professor, Annie thinks she's finally found a love she can trust. But years of conflict and pain destroy their bond and leave Annie alone again, unless she can find lasting peace and passion in the most unlikely arms. In this family saga, love, loss and history twine together the people whose lives are changed by Annie's determination and the magic of her knoll nestled along the head-waters of the Chesapeake Bay.

Excert from Annie Crow Knoll:  Sunrise by Gail Priest
Annie pulled into the parking lot of Wilson’s Hardware, with a lumber list and no

money to pay for any of it. There'd been several more inquiry calls and interest

expressed in renting the remaining cottages, but no checks in the mail yet. Annie had

used up the last of this month’s cash to pay Bo’s salary. If he’d been aware of the

situation, she knew that he wouldn’t have taken any pay, so she lied to him. She told him

that there was money for the lumber they needed to repair the porches on Sun-swept and

No Name.

Annie planned on using her father's line of credit. She tried to reassure herself

with the power of positive thinking. If she assumed they’d give her credit, then they

would.

“Hey there, Annie Crow,” she heard when she walked into the store.

“Hey, Carol Sue. How are you?” Annie tried to be pleasant but felt her stomach

tighten up. She and Carol Sue went all through school together but never saw eye-to-eye.

“I’m fine. Say, I’m awfully sorry about your mama and daddy.”

“Thank you.”

“How you managing out there all by yourself, Annie Crow?”

“I’m fine. Now here’s what I need to get.” Annie handed her the list.

“My, my. This is quite a list! You and your darky must be keepin’ busy.”

Annie tasted bile in her throat but kept her mouth shut as Carol Sue picked up the

phone to read the list to the owner who was out in the lumberyard.

“Mr. Wilson wants to know what you’re building,” Carol Sue told Annie while

she held the receiver.

“We’re repairing the porches on two cottages,” Annie answered, hoping there

weren’t too many more questions to this inquisition.

“She says that her and her darky are repairing two porches, Mr. Wilson,” Carol

Sue said to her boss.

Annie slammed her hands down on the counter. “Listen you, bitch, if you call him that again, I’m going to take that phone and ram it down your throat!”

“Sweet Lord!” Carol Sue yelped and dropped the phone.

By then a crowd had started to gather closer to the commotion. Among the usual

customers were two young men. They looked nearly the same age and wore

similar T-shirts and jeans on this Saturday morning, but Annie noticed the one who wore glasses. He was staring at her.

Suddenly Carol Sue, who seemed to have  collected herself, handed Annie the order total.

Annie told her to put it on the Knoll's credit.

Carol Sue smiled. “Don't you have the cash?"

"No," Annie said quietly, not wanting to draw any more attention to herself. “I

want to use my father’s credit.”

"Well, I don't think that I can do that, Miss Annie Crow. Your daddy’s dead.”

“What the hell is going on up here?” Mr. Wilson hollered as he came in from the

lumber yard. “Carol Sue, what are you doing dropping the phone like that? Is there a problem?”     

“Well, yes there is, Mr. Wilson. Annie Crow called me a bitch and now she’s

trying to use her dead daddy’s credit,” Carol Sue whined.

Mr. Wilson turned and looked at Annie. The crowd that had now taken up

permanent residence near the counter was silent and waiting to see what would happen

next. The young man with the glasses had a sympathetic look on his face.

Mr. Wilson spun back around to Carol Sue. “Annie called you a bitch because

you deserved it, and of course we’ll accept Luke’s credit. Her daddy bought all his

lumber here and that was quite a lot for all those cottages over the years. Now process

that bill and get this young lady on her way. I’m sure she’s got plenty to do out there on

the Knoll.”

Annie was relieved to head out to her truck. As she pulled around back to the

yard to pick up her lumber, she could see though the front plate glass windows that the

crowd around the counter hadn’t broken up yet. Mr. Wilson seemed to be talking to

them.

Probably telling them what a nut I am, she thought.

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About the Author

Gail Priest lives in New Jersey and summers in Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay with her husband and their cockatiel. In addition to writing novels, plays and screenplays, she teaches and directs in a high school performing arts program. She loves theatre, reading, birding and being out in nature 

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