He’d sit on the floor and pull picture books from the lower shelves, pretending he was working as well. Ridge didn’t know if his father realized those books were on the bottom shelves, but he didn’t remember ever being sent out of the room when he watched JD work. They were some of his favorite memories.
“Dad, did you hate it when I used to come in here and sit on the floor while you were working?” Ridge asked.
JD Holiday guided his son over to the bookcase, where all the picture books were still on the bottom shelves. He smiled as he looked at Ridge with shining eyes. “I put those books there for a reason, son. I wanted to have my kids around all the time, but having the responsibility of running Holiday Toys was overwhelming. You know Leo. He’s not easy to please. I worked a lot, but having you kids come here and sit down with a book was my favorite way to spend my time.
“I hope to someday have grandchildren who will sneak in here—like you kids used to—while I’m working, so I can watch them like I watched you kids. I’m not the best father in the world, but I love you all, and I want you to be a better parent than I was, okay?
“I want to clarify something with you. I know I wasn’t good about spending equal time with you and your brother when you were younger, but you needed me the least, son. You were smart in school, and you occupied your time well, rarely complaining about being bored.
“Elliot wasn’t that way. He was quite shy when he was young, and his ADHD put him at a disadvantage until we finally considered drug therapy for him. Your mother was very much against it, but his behavior became too much for her to handle on her own, and even with Patsy around to help, things were still difficult.
“Your brother required much more of your mother’s attention, which was why you spent a lot of time in the corner of my office with your nose in a book. You seemed to delight in tormenting your brother, and with all the challenges he faced back then, it was too hard on him. I didn’t like punishing you, but you always seemed to take it in stride. You were my little man, Ridge, and I was very proud of you.
“I want you to have a happy life, and the proposal you gave me? The idea of setting up a family foundation to benefit our employees? It’s one of the best ideas I’ve ever heard. We’ll make it work,” JD responded, before he hugged Ridge and kissed the side of his head.
“I know I was a bastard for doing what I did at Thanksgiving, and this will sound like bullshit, Ridge, but I love you, and I want more for you. Todd and I were like you and Elliot. Todd acted out when he was young, but then he fell in line and became Leo’s little corporate clone… just like Elliot is now.
“Both of them do everything right. The two of them work for the better of the company, but they’re not the ones who will lead Holiday Toys into the future. You are just like me, whether you want to admit it or not, and your grandfather decided I was the one who needed to get my shit straight, because I had responsibilities coming my way. Leo dumped me out without a damn thing to my name, and I learned a valuable lesson.
“It’s easy to get caught up in the money and the privilege of it all, but when you meet people who haven’t had the same opportunities, well, it can be a slap upside the head, or so I learned. I needed it, and I think you did as well. I wanted more for you than just being a spoiled little asshole like I was before Dad lowered the hammer,” JD explained.
Ridge chuckled. “Well, Elliot keeping me off the books probably helped me learn the lesson a little faster, but I get it. I just hope I can convince Cris I’m worth his time.”
JD chuckled. “I think you’ll be fine. Based on what Evie told us, I think things will work out the way you’ll like. I can’t wait to meet him.”
Nothing surprised Ridge more than hearing his father address the pink elephant in the room, regarding how Ridge felt growing up as the middle child. He didn’t remember ever knowing about Elliot being diagnosed with ADHD, but looking back, he could remember times when his brother had massive meltdowns when they were little.
Ridge’s way of handling the tantrums was to go into his room, closing and locking the door. Hearing the reasons behind the differences in treatment the two of them received made things better, though it didn’t change the past. Maybe the kick in the ass was what brought Cristian Gamble to him. If that was the case, he’d take it over and over again.
“Where is he?” Ridge asked Eve, after he came downstairs from his shower. He was dressed in the ass-end-of-the-reindeer sweater Hannah had made for him to match Cris’ sweater, and he wanted to thank her in person, but he needed to see Cris first.
Eve pointed toward the library, so Ridge grabbed rye on the rocks from the bar that wasn’t entirely set up yet and went into the room. He wasn’t shocked to see Leo grilling Cris. When he heard the topic of conversation, he smiled.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I fell in love with my wife in eight and a half minutes. How about you? How long did it take my grandson to fall in love with you?” Leo asked Cris.
Ridge couldn’t hold his tongue. “Three minutes and twenty-four seconds, Grandpa,” Ridge answered as he looked at Cris.
It was the fucking truth. Never in his life did Ridge imagine he’d have another shot with Cristian Gamble, but as he watched the slow smile on the man’s handsome face, Ridge Holiday swore to himself he wouldn’t fuck it up. He had too much to lose.
The kiss was everything Ridge ever wanted. When JD came into the library and cleared his throat, they had a short discussion before it was time to face the masses.
Ridge pulled Cris back into the hallway that led to the dining room. “Aren’t you supposed to be in there?” Cris whispered, as he hitched his thumb toward the solarium where JD was tapping a microphone, making the reverb screech over the speakers.
“I am, but I want to tell you this first. I love you, Cristian. I want you to know, I didn’t do this to impress you, but if it does, then feel free to defile me in my childhood bedroom in about thirty minutes,” Ridge offered, before he kissed Cris again.
He strolled into the solarium, seeing the Mays family in all of their ugly sweatered glory. He was also surprised to see Elliot talking to Janae Mays as he held Kevin on his shoulders so he could see over the crowd.
Ridge saw Hannah and Bauer standing closer to the front while Eve stood to the side with a big smile. When Ridge joined her, she took his arm. “This is very exciting. I can’t wait to see Mom’s face.” Ridge laughed. He was interested in seeing Elaine Holiday’s face as well.
“Welcome, everyone. I’m JD Holiday, and I’m happy so many of you were willing to join us to ring in the new year. There’s plenty of food and drink, so please, make yourselves at home.”
“Before we get to the dancing and fireworks, I have a few things I want to say to all of you,” his father began.
JD outlined the successful Christmas season and how happy the family was that things were going so well. He explained that there were going to be a few changes that wouldn’t negatively impact the employees. He thanked everyone for their hard work, before he turned to Ridge. “And, I’d like my son, Ridge, to come up to discuss a new direction Holiday Toys is taking. Ridge?”
Ridge cleared his throat and nodded, pulling Eve along with him. He’d finally figured out who would be better at running the Holiday Family Foundation… his little sister was in her senior year at Penn State, and since it would take a while to set up the framework, it would be ready and waiting for her when she graduated.
“Good evening and welcome. I’m not good at speeches, but let me start by saying a huge thank you to the employees from the West Philly store where I worked for the Christmas season. We had a few dramas over the holiday period, but we made it out alive! You are all great people to work with, and I look forward to getting to know all of the fine folks who work for the Holiday organization.
“So, as my father mentioned, there are going to be changes in the upcoming months at Holiday Toys, but the one that affects you the most, will be the establishment of the Holiday Family Foundation
. You are all members of the Holiday Family, and we know your jobs at the stores may not be the only jobs you have so that you can take care of your families. We want to help.
“The Foundation will benefit the employees of Holiday Toys and Holiday Distribution, offering scholarships to you in the event you wish to further your education. We will host workshops for additional training, so there’s room for advancement within the company, and we will establish a community reinvestment presence in the areas where we have stores. This will be nationwide, and much more detail will be forthcoming as soon as we fight things out with the lawyers,” Ridge offered, hearing the laugh he hoped for at the mention of lawyers.
“My little sister, Evelyn, who some of you know from the West Philly store, will be running the Foundation, and there will be a board of directors to guide the direction the Foundation takes. We’ll be establishing seats on the board for employees of the stores to meet the needs of everyone through your feedback.”
He looked at Eve to see a big smile as she touched her fingers to her eyes, and nodded at him that she was on board.
“You’ve already heard about the new referral policy we’re putting into place, and we encourage you to look within your own families and groups of friends to fill the positions we will have available soon. At the Distribution Center, we will also have a fleet of one hundred delivery trucks to handle the freight we’re going to stock, and we want the garage to hire the best people available, so give some consideration to those you know. We’ll be hiring soon.”
“We are in negotiations with Mr. Bob Jobe to help us set up the garage to maintain our fleet, and I believe our own resident Santa, Cristian Gamble, will be tapped to run the operation on behalf of Mr. Jobe and Holiday Toys,” Ridge stated as he scanned the crowd for Cris.
When he finally located him, Ridge saw the surprised look on his face, and it made him smile, so he continued. “This means you’ll have to move to Ambler, and I was hoping maybe we could be roommates. I’ll be moving there as well, so you and Hannah think about it.
“In case I wasn’t clear earlier, I love you, Cristian, and I want a life with you… and Hannah, if you’ll have me. Now, let's get on with the party! Happy New Year!”
Ridge rushed through the crowd and grabbed Cris, pulling him into his embrace so he could kiss him. He didn’t think he’d ever been so happy in his life.
They heard the applause around them, but it was just white noise as Ridge chastely shared a sweet kiss with Cris. A throat cleared behind them, so Ridge pulled away, but he didn’t let go of his man.
They both turned to see Elliot standing in front of them with a big smile. He was holding out a set of keys as he looked at Ridge. “You won it, fair and square,” he offered.
Cris laughed, as did Elliot, but Ridge had an idea he wanted to propose to his brother. “I’ll take it, but only if I have your permission to sell it and donate the money to the Foundation?”
He saw the surprise on Elliot’s face, but then it grew into a big smile. “It won’t be enough to fund that beast you talked about, but sure. I’m game.”
Ridge shook his hand. “No, I realize it’ll take more than that, so I’m donating the bulk of my trust to establish the foundation. What about you, big brother? You interested in doing a selfless thing for a good cause?” Ridge asked, as he turned to see the shining smile on Cris’ face.
When Elliot didn’t answer, Ridge looked up to see him staring at Janae Mays with a longing look Ridge had never witnessed before. He elbowed Cris and pointed to where Janae was talking to Ginny Holiday, who seemed quite animated in her ugly sweater that was covered with green garland and lit Christmas lights. It was pretty funny to see the matriarch of the staunch Holiday family actually having a good time.
Cris touched Ridge’s chest. “I see Bobby and Charlene. I’ll be back in a few, and then, I wouldn’t mind the tour you promised… the one where you show me your bedroom?”
Ridge chuckled and gave Cris a quick kiss before he let him go, watching him all the way across the room, before his brother gently slapped his face. “Wow, you’re in deep. Now, how much of a donation will I have to make to keep my car?” Elliot asked.
Ridge laughed. “Nope. After what you did to me, neither of us get to keep the car. It’ll make you feel so good to sacrifice something you wanted so much to benefit the greater good,” Ridge teased.
Elliot looked back in the direction of Ginny and Janae, and he smiled. “Yeah, I might not have much use for it, as a matter of fact. It’s a little small for what I have in mind.”
Ridge had never seen the look in his brother’s eyes before in his life, but he’d seen it on his own face when he looked in the mirror. It appeared Elliot was about to pursue Janae Mays, and knowing the woman as he did, Ridge wished him the best of luck. She might just be exactly what his brother needed.
Chapter 20
Ridge woke with the sensation of a warm, wet mouth on his cock and the “Birthday Song” coming from under the covers of his childhood bed. The humming sound was doing naughty, fabulous things to his body.
He threw back the covers to see Cris Gamble with his beautiful brown hair sticking up in all directions. Ridge remembered how they ended up in his bed in the first place. The house tour…
“This is the library, of course. When I was a kid, we used to sneak in here when Dad was working and read these books. I used to pretend I was him, and I was working at Holiday Toys with JD,” Ridge explained as he pulled a mystery book from the second to the bottom shelf and held it up for Cris to see. The man took it from him and looked at it with a tender smile.
“I wish there were pictures of that. Well, it looks like your childhood dreams are coming true. What was that part about Hannah and me moving to Ambler?” Cris asked, but it wasn’t said crossly, just curiously.
“Well, Dad went to see Bobby at the garage yesterday to discuss the fleet, and Bobby said he’d like to stay at the main garage because it’s near his home, but he recommended you to manage the garage at the distribution center. He and Dad are working out the details. I figured that if you ran the garage in Ambler, and I’m running the Distribution Center, we should consolidate expenses, especially since I’m giving away three-quarters of my trust fund to set up the Foundation.”
Cris laughed as he returned the book to the shelf and stood in front of Ridge, taking both of his hands. “What about Hannah?”
Ridge raised their joined hands and pulled them to his chest. “If she wants to stay at Mercer, then we’ll get her a car, and she can drive herself. I happen to know a nice, used Impala that will be for sale very soon. I have it on good authority the car’s in great shape,” he reminded Cris of his promise to buy Patsy a new car when he got his trust fund.
“I guess that’s an option. What about expenses? I don’t want to live in a place like this. I think a few bedrooms should suffice, don’t you?” Cris suggested.
“Depends on how many times you want to move over the next several years. When we have kids of our own, we don’t want to have to move to a bigger place. Hannah’s had enough upheaval in her young life, so I think we should buy a place a little bigger than we think we’ll need off the bat. Rooms can sit empty for a while. I haven’t had the chance to research real estate, but I will when I actually get my laptop back and have access to Wi-Fi,” Ridge promised.
“Where’s your laptop?” Cris asked.
Ridge chuckled. “I’m glad you asked. Come with me, Mr. Gamble.” He took Cris’ hand and led him out of the library and up the grand staircase in the foyer. When they reached the top, they turned to the left where Ridge and Elliot had their childhood bedrooms.
Ridge was on the left at the end of the hallway while Elliot’s bedroom was on the right. Back then, the two of them fought over the shared Jack-and-Jill bathroom at the end of the hallway, and their grandparents had the large suite next to Elliot’s room. The bedroom next to Ridge’s room was a guest room. Eve had her bedroom and another guest room at the other end
of the hallway on the right, with his parents’ suite taking up the entire left side of the other corridor.
“This is me,” Ridge said as he opened the door to see everything looked just as it had the last time he’d been in there, which was Thanksgiving Day. His laptop was on the desk by his closet, and the only difference he could notice was that Patsy had changed out his comforter on his old bed.
“I need to pack some of this stuff to take with me, but I guess I’ll have to move in here for a few months until we find a place… unless you know somewhere else I can stay? I have to clear out of my shitty apartment tomorrow and give up the key,” Ridge reminded him, hoping they could reach an alternative arrangement, aside from him having to move back to his parents’ home.
Cris sighed. “I might have an idea, but before we talk about moving things and setting up house, there’s one thing I want. I’d never buy a used car without checking under the hood,” he told Ridge, not smiling.
“You’ve already looked under the hood of Patsy’s car. You said it…” Ridge trailed off when he saw Cris smirk and waggle his eyebrows.
“I’ve seen what’s under the hood, but I’d really like a chance for a ride, just to be sure I’m getting what I bargained for.” Before Ridge knew what was happening, Cris picked him up and placed him on the bed, sliding his hand up under the ugly sweater to tweak his left nipple. The move made Ridge’s body zing like he was hit by lightning.
Teeth clashed as the two of them jockeyed for the dominant position, until Ridge figured it out and relaxed. “It’s your test drive, Mr. Gamble. By all means, put me through my paces, so you get the most out of the ride,” he joked, as Cris went for the button of his dress slacks and opened it, moving to kiss his way down Ridge’s chest and pulling the zipper to Ridge’s pants open with his teeth.
The Holiday Gamble Page 17
