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“If I thought it wouldn’t make trouble for us all over again here, I’d do it in a heartbeat,” Aaron said.
“Every family has a cross of some kind to bear. Your reputation should have nothing to do with who you’re related to,” Cameron said. “Trust him. Trust us.”
Aaron nodded but stayed silent.
Rusty took a bite of the pie, then rolled her eyes.
“Lord, Shirley. This pie is delicious!”
Shirley beamed. “Thanks. B.J. helped me make them. He’s a good hand in the kitchen.”
B.J. nodded. “I like to cook. But I like to eat better.”
They laughed, and the moment passed, but after the meal was over and the table cleared, Cameron knew it was time to explain why he’d come.
“I know you’re all wondering why I needed to talk to you, so I’ll get right to the point. And I need to stress this, above all else…what I say to you tonight stays in the family…in this room. Everybody on the mountain knows it, but we don’t talk about it, because it has to stay a secret.”
It was the word ‘secret’ that got their attention, and in that moment, Shirley suddenly realized what this was about.
“What’s the secret?” Aaron asked.
“The entire town of Jubilee is a very successful tourist attraction, owned by a company called PCG, Incorporated. All of the businesses in town lease the property locations and pay monthly rent to the corporation. The land is never for sale, nor is the mountain on which we live. It’s how we are protected from investors and outsiders wanting to clear it for their own gain. That’s how it’s been since my grandfather’s time. And this is how it will always be. But nobody except the families involved know that PCG stands for Pope, Cauley, and Glass.”
Shirley was smiling. “I’ve been gone from here so long I’d completely forgotten about all this.”
Aaron leaned forward. “What? What are you saying?”
Cameron glanced at Rusty, and then spoke. “That we here on the mountain own Jubilee, and all of the members of those families on the mountain are stockholders. We all receive quarterly dividends from the company. Any one up here automatically becomes eligible for dividends once they reach their eighteenth birthday. Each family is represented by a family member of their choosing to sit on the board. I am, at the present time, the CEO of PCG, Inc. I was the elected member of the Pope family, and the other members of the board selected me as the CEO.”
“What kind of money are we talking about?” Sean asked.
“We’re in the third generation of PCG’s existence. It is a multimillion-dollar company. The dividends are generous and issued quarterly, and the investments from the money grow the coffers, as well. By moving here and coming into Helen’s heritage, you will receive your first checks by the end of the month. There are less than 250 people still living on Pope Mountain. The money arrives by direct deposit into your personal bank accounts, or into savings accounts per each family’s wishes. In the next three days or so, I’ll be needing your bank information so I can get it all to the lawyer in Frankfort who oversees the legal end of the corporation, and you will have assigned bank accounts in a bank in Frankfort. That keeps the people down below from finding out we’re their landlords. This is never up for discussion. Nobody outside the families ever knows unless they marry into it.”
Wiley was stunned.
Sean was grinning.
Aaron was in shock.
“Cool,” B.J. said, and served himself another piece of pie.
Shirley’s eyes welled. “Just one more gift from Mama,” she whispered. “All I had to do was come home to claim it. I didn’t remember, but she did.”
Cameron nodded. “And, just so you know, if any of you ever have problems or want advice, everyone on this mountain is here for you. It’s never a burden. It’s our way.”
