Unbroken By Us (Cowboys of Copper Creek #2)

Prologue

Stephanie

"Uno!" Sophia shouted, bouncing in her seat with her single card held high.

"No way!" I stared at my hand of twelve cards, mostly blues and greens that were useless against the red seven on the pile. "You little sneak, you've been holding that Draw Four this whole time!"

"Strategy," Sophia said primly, grinning like the evil mastermind she was, even though she was only twelve.

"That's my girl," Harrison ruffled his daughter's hair as he passed, carrying plates to the kitchen. "Ruthless. Just like her old man."

"Ruthless nothing," Clemmie called from the sink. "She gets that from me. Haz, you fold every time someone looks at you sideways in poker."

"I do not fold. I make strategic retreats."

Liam snorted, drawing four cards from the pile since he couldn't play either. "Is that what we're calling it? Because last week you 'strategically retreated' twenty bucks to Mr. Henderson in Texas Hold 'Em."

"Whose side are you on, boy?” Mr. Harrison demanded, but he was smiling that easy smile that made their whole house feel warm.

This was Thursday night at the Walker house. Family dinner—which included me more often than not—followed by whatever game Sophia picked. Tonight's torture was Uno, and she was destroying all of us.

"Your turn, Steph," Liam said, bumping my shoulder. "Unless you're giving up?"

"Never." I played a Wild card with flourish. "Green!"

"Noooo!" Sophia wailed as I changed the color away from her final red card.

"Strategy," I mimicked, making Liam laugh.

God, I loved that sound. Fifteen years old and already I was completely gone for the boy next door with the crooked smile and steady hands. Not that I'd ever tell him that. We were best friends, and I wasn’t about to risk that. I’d rather have him some than not at all.

"Alright, dishes, then Steph needs to head home," Clemmie announced. "School night."

"It's only nine-thirty," Sophia protested.

"And you still have math homework," Harrison reminded her.

"Math is evil."

"Math is necessary," Liam said, already collecting the Uno cards. "Come on, Soph. I'll help you after Steph goes home."

I helped clear the table, comfortable in their kitchen as my own.

The Walkers had lived next door for three years now, ever since Harrison got transferred to Austin for his job at Dell.

Three years of dinners and game nights and Liam teaching me to throw a football in the backyard while Sophia provided commentary.

"Thanks for dinner, Mrs. W," I said, putting plates in the dishwasher.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Clemmie?" She squeezed my shoulder. "And you know you're always welcome here, honey."

"Walk me home?" I asked Liam, even though home was literally forty feet away.

His eyes sparkled across the kitchen. ”Like you need to ask."

We stepped out into the humid Austin night, cicadas screaming in the trees. Summer was holding on despite it being late September, the air thick enough to swim through.

"Your dad was in a good mood tonight," I said.

"He got that promotion. The one he's been gunning for all year."

"That's amazing!"

"Yeah, means more travel though. Maybe a move eventually." Liam's voice went quiet. "Dad mentioned Denver or Phoenix as possibilities."

My stomach dropped. "You'd move?"

"Not if I can help it." He stopped at the property line between our houses, hands shoved in his pockets. "I like it here."

"Good. Because I'd hunt you down if you tried to leave."

He smiled, that soft one that was just for me. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. You're stuck with me, Walker. Better get used to it."

For a moment, we just stood there, the space between us feeling charged with something I didn't have words for yet. Then my dad's porch light flicked on—the universal parent signal for "get inside."

"See you tomorrow," I said, backing toward my door. "Bus stop at seven-fifteen?"

"I'll bring coffee."

"My hero."

I watched him walk back to his house, then headed inside. Mom was watching TV, Dad already in his office working on some case—he was a public defender, always bringing work home.

"Good night at the Walkers'?" Mom asked.

"Sophia destroyed us at Uno. Again."

"That kid's scary smart."

I kissed her goodnight and headed upstairs. Took a quick shower, put on pajamas, and was just crawling into bed when I heard it.

Screams.

High and sharp, cutting through the humid night like broken glass. Then gunshots—two quick pops that I felt more than heard, like someone had punched holes through the world.

I shot out of bed, my heart hammering. "Mom? Dad?"

More screams. Sophia's voice. Oh God, that was Sophia screaming.

I scrambled out of bed, legs shaking, and went to my window. There were people running in the Walkers’ yard, dressed in all black. I let go of the windowsill as if it burned, and my stomach dropped to the floor.

"Stephanie, get away from there!" Mom appeared in my doorway, her face pale.

I jumped and spun around. Tears slid down my cheeks, hot and fast. “What happened? What was that, Mom?”

Dad was right behind her, phone already pressed to his ear. “Hello, I believe gunshots just went off in my next-door neighbor's house.”

“Oh my God,” I sobbed.

Mom pulled me into her arms. She was shaking just as badly as I was.

Police sirens wailed to life, already close, getting closer. Red and blue lights started dancing across my bedroom walls. "What's happening?" I tried to look past my parents outside, but Dad moved to block my view.

"Stay here." Dad's voice had that tone that brooked no arguments. "Both of you, away from the windows. Now."

But I couldn't help myself. I crept to the side of the window, peering around the curtain. Police cars were everywhere, surrounding the Walker house. Officers with guns drawn. Paramedics running with stretchers—two stretchers. More sirens coming.

My stomach turned to ice. Harrison. Clemmie. Sophia.

Liam.

"Are they okay?" My voice came out high, terrified. "Dad, are the Walkers okay?"

Mom pulled me away from the window again. "We don't know anything yet, baby. We just need to stay inside and let the police do their job."

Time moved like syrup after that. Minutes felt like hours.

I sat on the couch between my parents, watching the news even though they were just reporting on the "incident in South Austin" without any real information.

Every time I tried to move toward the door, toward the window, toward my phone to text Liam, one of my parents would stop me.

"Please," I begged. "Just let me check if he's okay."

“We need to stay inside," Dad said firmly, but his voice was strained. "That means everyone stays inside."

It was after midnight when the knock came. Dad went to answer it, Mom's hand tightening on mine. I heard Officer Roberts’ voice—he'd been our neighborhood cop forever, had given us safety talks at school.

"The scene is secure," he said quietly. "But Tom, the Walker kids... their parents didn't make it."

The world tilted. Clemmie with her warm hugs and insistence that I call her by her first name. Harrison with his terrible poker face and dad jokes. Gone.

I was up and moving before Mom could grab me, shoving past Dad and Officer Roberts, bursting out our front door.

Liam was standing in his front yard. Just standing there, still as stone, still wearing the same t-shirt and jeans from dinner. Sophia was pressed against his side, her face buried in his shirt, her whole body shaking with sobs.

"Liam!" I ran to him, barefoot on the cool grass, not caring about the police tape or the officers who tried to stop me.

He turned at my voice, and the look on his face broke something in me. Empty. Shocked. Lost. Like someone had reached inside and turned off all his lights.

I crashed into him, wrapping my arms around both him and Sophia. He didn't move at first, didn't respond, just stood there trembling under my touch.

“Steph, honey… come back inside.” Mom’s voice floated out behind me, soft but fraying at the edges.

“No.” My arms tightened around Sophia’s trembling body. “I’m not leaving them.”

She was shaking so hard her teeth clicked, tiny hands fisted in the back of Liam’s shirt like he was the only thing tethering her to earth.

Liam stood statue-still beside us—too still for a boy his age.

His face was blank, expression carved into something too calm, too adult.

His shoulders were rigid, his jaw locked so tight a muscle kept twitching.

Mom and Dad stepped onto the porch behind me. They looked at each other—fear, urgency, heartbreak—all in one glance that passed over the top of my head.

Then Dad’s voice, low and steady, the voice he saved for emergencies.

“Bring them both. They can stay with us tonight.”

Officer Roberts shifted awkwardly, clipboard in hand. “The social worker—”

“—can talk to us in the morning,” Mom cut in, voice hardening in that way that made grown men rethink their life choices. “These kids are not spending the night in a police station or a stranger’s house. They’re coming with us. They have an aunt and uncle in Copper Creek—we’ll call them.”

Somehow—through coaxing and soft words and the officer’s gentle hands—we got Sophia inside.

She clung to Liam the entire time, sobbing so hard she was hiccuping.

Liam never moved his arm from around her shoulders, never said a word.

He walked like he was carrying something too heavy for him.

Like if he stopped moving, even for a second, it would crush him.

Mom organized the pullout set up in the finished basement—our basement—where Liam and I had spent years building blanket forts and playing video games. It felt wrong now. Too bright. Too safe. Too normal while their world had just exploded.

Dad came down with the cordless phone. “We’re going to call your aunt and uncle, okay? They’ll come get you.”

“I’ll call them,” Liam said suddenly. His voice didn’t sound like Liam. Didn’t sound like any kid I’d ever known. It was low. Controlled. Hollow.