Liam Yancey said nothing, his gaze still fixed on the pitch-dark sky in the distance.
Tara Summer only smelled the smoke when she approached, glancing sideways to see a cigarette between the man's fingers in his left hand.
Frowning, Tara felt a jolt in her heart. Liam Yancey hadn't smoked for a very long time, long enough for her to almost forget. Ever since Four and Nine were born, he hadn't touched a cigarette, but now he had started again, hinting at the anxiety and restlessness churning inside him.
"You... you're smoking again?" A pain stabbed her chest, and she tightened her grip on his arm. Tara's breathing grew heavy, her premonition worsening.
Liam lowered his eyes, took a fierce drag of his cigarette, and only after a long silence did he slowly turn his head.
When the man's bloodshot eyes met the woman's, Tara's eyes stung with bitterness. The tears she had tried so hard to suppress swelled up again, gathering in her eyes, and under the light, her tears glimmered.
