Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

Chapter 816

While Owen Reynolds was huffing and puffing, rolling snowballs in the yard, Roseanne was buried in data entry at the lab, her attention fixed on the numbers flickering across her computer screen.

Mamie and Scales had already gone home for the day.

She was the only one left.

She'd grown so used to Mamie's constant chatter that, for a moment that morning, the quiet felt almost unnatural as she stepped inside. But the moment she climbed onto her workbench and started her experiments, that unease melted away.

Roseanne never feared solitude. The years Murray kept her shut away in that big, empty house had already taught her how to be alone.

She could read by herself, study by herself, cook for herself, eat alone, and wait for time to pass alone.

Doing research could be a group effort or a solo journey. She'd understood that for a long time.

Around noon, Roseanne rubbed her neck, stiff from too many hours hunched over her notes, and headed to the break room for lunch.

She'd made her meal that morning-just needed to pop it in the microwave to heat it up.

She ate as she scrolled absently through her social feed.

Suddenly, a post from Stoddard, just an hour ago, caught her eye:

Text: "Rolled so many I feel sick."

Attached was a photo-three neat rows of snowballs, each one nearly identical in size, lined up in the snow.

Three rows!

it was

and left

you're

replied instantly: [It wasn't me

later, as if the last word hadn't

'fire,' it's

Roseanne was lost: [??]

Stoddard didn't reply again.

What did that

it off, finished her lunch, stretched her legs for

up again would be twice as hard, and she'd rather finish her work sooner so she could

the afternoon, she called a cab

kids in front of the neighboring building,

not a bad snowman,

wrapped around its neck, and they'd perched a metal mixing bowl on its

It actually looked great.

to help herself, and stood quietly at the side, watching as the kids packed handful

the street just in time to see Roseanne, utterly absorbed, staring at the two kids as if

her, and she didn't even

it

but her eyes crinkled with a smile the next

nodded. "Yeah, I was pretty

finished two sets of data analysis, he'd even