Circumstellar by J.W. Lolite

more. The scent of what promised to be a delicious dinner floated to me, and all thoughts of insane women’s tales drifted to the back of my mind. My stomach wouldn’t let anything interfere with this new task.
    I didn’t bother knocking and just entered the house. Mrs. Delaney had long since told me I was welcome to come and go as I pleased. Following my nose, I made my way to the kitchen. A woman with short, curly brown hair was peering into the oven, while Lesia sat at the kitchen table reading a book. One of her silly romances probably.
    “Hi, Lesia. Mrs. Delaney,” I greeted, setting my bag on the floor and taking a seat next to Lesia. She looked up from her book, smiled at me, and then went straight back to reading.
    “How are you today, Ingrid?” Mrs. Delaney asked while coming over to set out plates on the table. Looked like only four tonight.
    “I’m doing well. Dinner smells great, as usual. Is Mr. Delaney not here?”
    “No, Oliver is out of town on business, and Eden insisted on going with him. It’s just us girls tonight.” She winked. “Oh, and Ty,” she added.
    “Nah, he pretty much counts as one of the girls,” I said, prompting a giggle from Lesia. A smirk crept onto my face when a voice rang out from the hallway.
    “Just who is a girl?” Ty entered and took his place at the table. Like me, he had freedom of entrance. I was relieved to see he looked to be in a much better mood than he was this afternoon. A part of me was afraid he would still be trying to avoid us and skip dinner, but another part of me was confident he would show up. Like me, this was the one home-cooked meal he got every week.
    “Oh, no one in particular,” I waved off innocently, “or important.” He kicked at me under the table, and I wasted no time in launching my counterattack. Laughing and kicking, we entered into battle.
    “ Ouch !” Lysia yelped, dropping her book. “Glad to see you two are back to normal,” she said, rubbing her shin.
    “Sorry!” Ty and I apologized at the same time before breaking into more laughter. Lesia spent a few futile seconds trying to continue her book before tossing it to the side and shaking her head at us. Ty gave her a sympathetic look and then turned his attention to Mrs. Delaney.
    “That smells delicious, Miss Celia. I can’t wait to see what amazing dishes you’ve prepared for us tonight,” he complimented, turning on the charm. I rolled my eyes, and he gave me one last sly jab under the table.  I was about to retaliate again when Mrs. Delaney came over with her arms full of serving dishes. After helping her set the load down, we eyed the feast. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, and fresh buttered rolls. Simply marvelous. My mouth began salivating in anticipation, but I willed patience into my body, waiting for my hostess to give the okay.
    Taking her seat, Mrs. Delaney smiled at all of us. Her soft brown eyes were the very picture of her daughter’s. Gentle and kind, it was easy to see where Lesia got her traits from. “You know you don’t have to wait for me. Please, help yourselves,” she indicated to the bowls.
    Taking the initiative, I grabbed a spoon and heaved a load of food onto my plate. Ty showed restraint I could only dream of possessing and insisted on waiting until all the women had been served. By the end of the evening, there wasn’t a single scrap left; Ty and I saw to that. We helped Mrs. Delaney clean up, and Ty thanked her for the meal before heading to the door. The Delaneys didn’t have a problem with me spending the night, but since Ty was a boy, it was kind of frowned upon. So, it was customary for him to leave after dinner. At least, that’s what Lesia’s parents thought. He really just left out the front door and snuck around to Lesia’s window.
    “Wait, Ty,” Mrs. Delaney called after him. “Since Eden’s not here, you can use his room if that’s all right with your father.”
    “Don’t worry. He doesn’t care,” Ty said,