Julia held her chin with the thick of her palm. “I got bored of takeout, ugh! Sure, my grandfather hired a cook, but I bet she wishes she could be as good as you are. There’s no joy in eating what she makes! She still has her job because my grandfather explicitly forbids me from firing people out of my preferences!”

Then, suddenly, her eyes glinted. She cast a very meaningful stare in Deirdre’s direction. “Wait a sec. Why don’t… you become our new cook!? Name your price! I bet it’ll pay you way more than being my piano teacher.”

The prospect quite tempted Deirdre, but she remembered her pregnancy and dismissed the idea with a smile. “I’ll pass.”

“You’ll pass? Oh, h*ll no. Are you just holding a grudge against me for being a little bit nasty to you when we first started? Huh! Who knew you could be this grudgeful, huh? Okay, I formally apologize for being a brat and a pain in your *ss! I promise I won’t ever say something nasty to you again!” she declared. “But if that’s not enough fo