I am still taking piano.

Hopefully, you are surprised. Hopefully, you are wondering why in the world I haven't been able to worm my way out of it. Hopefully, you are NOT assuming that I somehow managed to start liking it.

Well, there are more ways than one to skin that sucker. And, what I figured out was I could fake practicing. Yeah, that's what I did. I could play a bunch of chords, and my mom would come in and tell me how great I was doing.

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I had discovered a new talent. And I embraced it like an Aggie embraces the word "Howdy" into their vocabulary.

This lovely solution cut my practice time to 15 minutes! Was I smart or what? YEEHAW!

It was all going so well. Until......

"Kara, we're putting a piano recital together. You're going to play in front of a bunch of people! On stage!"

I look at her excited face and think, "Oh, you gotta be kidding?!?!?"

I wasn't allowed to go outside one particular summer day in August of 1983. I about had a heart attack.

But my mother consoled me by inviting every neighborhood kid over to our house. Imagine my elation at having a big party instead of having to play school with Maria and Wendy.

Don't mistake me, I adore my sisters, but sometimes they picked the stupidest things to play.

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Anyway, my mother organized us in the hallway for some strange reason, but I didn't argue because it was a funny thing to do, and my friends didn't seem to mind.

We have this really long hallway. No windows, carpeted. I imagine there was about 20 of us sitting side by side. We were stretched all the way down. I thought this was the coolest, oddest, best concession for not being allowed outside.

My mother decided we should sing songs. The one I remember singing was "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". We sang it loud. We sang it soft. We sang it fast. We sang it slow. We sang it in cannon formation.

This was enjoyable even though I didn't understand the point. Usually, if I don't understand the point of doing something, I have a difficult time following through. Since I am an "almost third grader", I usually didn't do tasks I found irrelevant. (Like Math.)

But that day, I didn't question her, or fight her, or be generally stubborn.

I'm sure she was thankful.

Because the next day, when I was finally allowed outside, I discovered why I rowed that boat....

​THE COWBOY’S BRIDE is book 16 in the TEXAS BRIDES OF PIKE’S RUN series.
 
The hero in the story, James Davis, makes an appearance in several of the books leading up to his. He’s a trickster and a mischief-maker who hates rules and only obeys the ones his parents set for him. He’s caused problems for many shop owners, farmers and the Women’s Guild. He’s put frogs in shoes, tacks on chairs, used mirrors during mass to annoy Father O’Malley and spiked the punch at barn dances.
 
And his antics have come back to bite him.
 
James becomes a victim of a prank and finds himself hitched to the judge’s daughter because of it.
 
Boy howdy, did I have fun causing problems for James. He’s always thought himself in control. He’s always thought he knows everything. Well…..I shook up his world and didn’t even feel bad for him. (Maybe I did. A little.)
 
James has to learn how to eat crow and what love really is. It’s a sweet story, and I hope y’all enjoy it!

BUY THE COWBOY'S BRIDE
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EXCERPT: THE COWBOY'S BRIDE

“James!”

James shot up at the strident call, blinking rapidly.

“James!”

“Yeah?” he croaked out. What the hell? He was covered in hay. Had he fallen asleep in the loft? His head was pounding. He pressed the heel of his hand to his temple. “Damn,” he muttered.

“James.”

And the fury in the tone finally resonated. James looked up and found his father glaring down at him, along with the judge. “Pa?”

His father’s face was beet red with rage. The judge was clenching his hands into fists repeatedly. “What’s wrong?” James rasped.

The hay rustled beside him. He turned and met the gaze of Liza Talbut. Stunned, he reared back. “Oh, hell.”