He fought the urge to wince because there had been a hint of judgment in the question that let him know Ashley had done some damage. “When my father took over the company, it was decided that all of the siblings would get shares and they would be paid dividends. Now, most of the family worked for the company so they had a salary, too, but over the years the cousins and their children have chosen not to come into the company. They live off of their own careers and the dividends we pay.”

“I suspect sometimes they think they can live off their dividends alone.”

“Yes, and that includes Ashley’s parents,” he explained. “Her mother was given a large trust that should have lasted her lifetime. She lived beyond her means and got the whole family in trouble. I did what I could.”

Sylvie seemed to think about that for a moment. “What would happen if you did take the company public? Would that be enough money for the family?”

He’d thought about it a lot. It would solve so many of his problems, but it wasn’t what his father had made him promise. It wasn’t what his mother expected of him. “If we sold out, every family would get a large chunk of cash, though it would go to whoever is the head of the individual families, and obviously as time goes by and the families split the original stock, it would be less.”

“The aunts and uncles have a bigger chunk than the cousins.”

He nodded. “And in the case where the aunts and uncles are still alive, the cousins would get nothing until they inherited whatever was left, and some of my relatives would spend like there was no tomorrow. The way my father set things up, the company can take care of this generation. I don’t know about the next. I’ve bought up some of the stock from relatives who didn’t want to deal with the company. Some have sold to Charles. For now, this is how I have to work. At some point down the line, we’ll come up with something else.”

“My aunties and uncles never ask for anything more than a free haircut from time to time. Or my momma’s potato salad recipe.” She sighed and relaxed again. “That’s a lot for you to deal with.”

“But I have practice. I promise I’ll make things easy on you.”

She considered him for a moment. “I’m trying to figure out why I’m really here.”

“I’ve told you.”

“You needed a marriage to convince your aunt to vote the way you want so you can keep doing something you don’t love.”

How did he make her understand? “When my father was dying, he made me promise to keep the company together for the family, to not let it fall apart.”