The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Happy New Year’s!” screamed everyone.

Trish jumped into Mark’s arms at the stroke of midnight and they shared a kiss, before joining in the song.

“Should old acquaintance be forgot,

And never brought to mind ?

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

And old lang syne ?

For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne,

We’ll take a cup of kindness yet,

For auld lang syne.”

Everyone cheered and laughed as 2009 was rung in happily by the assembled crowd at the Winthrop’s Concord Estate. Soon Mark and Trish were greeting their mates and their other friends and family assembled. Pretty much everyone stayed at the Winthrop’s after Bill and Marie’s wedding, except the happy couple and Michelle who joined them on their Hawaiian honeymoon. Bill, Marie and Michelle, were currently on the phone, having joined in the countdown, though in six hours they would do their own private countdown, as their new year began. The wedding event had extended into Christmas, the end of Chanukah until the present. Most people would be leaving tomorrow, having had one of the happiest times of their lives. Still, “upon every life, some rain must fall.” This rain fell on the Winthrop’s Jeff, and Mark and came in the form of some uninvited guests who believed that their lack of invitations were an oversight.

The gate bell at the Winthrop’s rang and Sharon looked at Phil. “Who could it be?”

“I’ll get it,” said Phil.

“We’ll get it together,” she smiled, as she followed her husband to the security monitor.

Phil looked out and saw his old school chum “Kensington Killingsworth, III, his wife, Paige and their two sons, Kensington IV and his younger brother, Jeremy. Aside from being family friends, “Ken’s” dad sat on the Board of Directors of The Winthrop Corporation. Phil was jolted by Ken’s voice.

“So are you going to let us in, or let us freeze to death,” the blithe voice uttered.

“Sure. We’re ringing you through,” said Phil, as he pushed the button and then they saw the car pull though the gate, as it shut behind the moving car.”

Phil looked at Sharon and they both were thinking the same thing. While they had been friends with the Killingsworth’s for years, their new found friendships had shown them how shallow their lives had been. Phil remembered talking to Ken about making vague plans about visiting them in Boston when they were in New England on their ski trip. Since they had not firmed up the plans, Phil just assumed nothing would come of it. It looked like he was wrong.

A few minutes later, the Killingsworth’s were let in from the cold and greeted their hosts with tepid hugs and greetings. “I’m sorry Ken. Since I hadn’t heard from you since July, I thought the plan was off,” said Phil.

“C’mon Phil. we always see you and Sharon when we get up here. Good thing we thought to come here when we didn’t find you in Boston.” said Ken glibly.

“Well you all must be chilled to the bone. Come in and get near the fire to warm you up,” said Sharon, leading them toward the Great Room.

“Thank you, honey,” smiled Paige Killingsworth, before exclaiming, “Oh my God! Is that Patty over there? I thought you were still having a falling out.”

“Well, we’ve mended some fences with our daughter, and are one big happy family,” said Phil.

Paige grinned at Sharon conspiratorially “Well, I’m sure she’ll be happy to see Kenny. I remember how crazy they used to be about each other.”

Sharon did not have the heart to tell Paige that Trish never cared for Kenny all that much. Instead she decided that she better explain Tricia’s new circumstances to her. By the time she opened her mouth, it was too late. Paige was flying into the great room toward “Patty” Winthrop, with Junior hot on her heels.

Trish was talking to Amy when she heard a shrill voice calling her name. “Patty! Oh my God it is you!” said Paige as she jostled passed Tricia’s roommate and gave Trish a hug.

“Aunt Paige!” said a surprised and somewhat chagrinned Trish, as she returned the hug in an awkward fashion.

“Hey Trish,” grinned Kenny with a leer, as he also nudged past Amy rudely and waited for his mother to finish her hug before getting his own, picking her off the ground in the process.”

“Kenny, please put me down,” said Trish quietly.

“Come on, baby you know you love it when I do that.”

Trish never loved it when he did “that”. She had been somewhat fond of Kenny because he was one of the first family friends to start calling her Trish, but she always suspected that he had had ulterior motives.

“Oh, my God, is that Wendy?!” exclaimed Paige, as she went off in hot pursuit of the other Winthrop daughter. Her son, Jeremy was Wendy’s age and had not seen her in a couple of years. When he saw her new, good looks, he shot after his mother.

Sharon was mortified. She didn’t know which daughter to save. She saw Phil and Ken walking toward Trish and Kenny, so she figured she’d let her husband save Trish. She tried to catch Mark’s eyes as she blazed a trail after Paige, but Mark appeared to be in an in depth conversation with Marcus and his dad and did not notice her look of panic.

In the meantime, Kenny was still lifting Trish off the ground, as her Dad and Ken approached them. Ken laughed “A chip of the old block,” he ginned at his sons antics.

“Look, Ken, Patricia is spoken for,” said Phil.

“Jeez, Phil. Don’t tell me that you’re still making her marry that smarmy little drip of a toady, who works for you. I figured that her being here meant that you’d finally come to your senses.”

“I have. What I’m trying to tell you is…”

“What? You don’t think my son is good enough for your daughter?!” accused Ken.

“Ken, it’s not that…” started Phil trying to calm his friend.

“Hi, sorry to interrupt, but is there a problem here,” smiled the young man arriving on the scene. Trish smiled sheepishly as she was still suspended in midair by Kenny’s arms and torso.

“I know you are one of Phil’s guests’, young man, but I encourage you to mind your own business,” stated Ken, condescendingly.

“See here, Ken, I don’t care for your tone…” started Phil.

“You have some nerve! First you stand us up and make us go hunting for you and then you take the side of some kid, over someone you have know for more than twenty-five years!” railed Ken.

Mark was getting angry at the man, but he decided to let Phil deal with him. He was more concerned about the guy holding his fiancée. He knew Trish did not want to make a scene, so he did his best to play nice, rather than play the wounded “fiancée card”. “Hey Trish, having fun?” smirked Mark.

“Not really,” replied the blond.

“Oh, come on Trish! I haven’t seen you in three years. The least you can do is be appreciative of my attentions. Tell this guy to go away,” said Kenny.

“Sure, tell me to go away,” laughed Mark.

Trish looked ticked. She wasn’t sure if she was more ticked at Kenny or Mark at the moment. She decided to make her wishes known again. “Kenny, I asked you nicely to put me down. I’m asking again,” she said sternly.

Mark knew that look and tone of voice. He figured that Tricia’s patience was wearing thin. “The lady asked you to put her down,” he said grimly.

“Look, kid. Mind your own business.”

“I think it is my business when you hold my fiancée so affectionately,” stated Mark emphatically, with some volume.

At that moment everyone in the conversation stopped talking.

“You’re letting Patty marry this guy? Who the hell’s he?” asked Ken angrily.

“My name is Mark Samuels and if you don’t make the guy holding Trish put her down, I will.”

Kenny did put Trish down and walked menacingly toward Mark. Mark figured that the kid had about twenty pounds on him. All of the sudden Trish superimposed herself between them. “Uncle Ken and Kenny, this is my fiancé, Mark Samuels,” as she flashed her engagement ring. “Kenny, you have some nerve treating me like a piece of meat.”

“Get out of my way, Trish!” yelled Kenny.

Mark was momentarily distracted by a scream from the other side of the room. He saw that Jeff lay crumpled on the floor, no doubt protecting Wendy from the advances of another newcomer. Sharon was yelling at some woman, while Wendy was crying, as she was being pulled away from Jeff by the attacker. When Mark saw Marcus, Pete, and Jason advancing on the kid who was dragging Wendy, Mark returned his focus to the guys he was with. He was going to rip this kid a new one. “Babe, you heard the man,” intoned Mark.

When Ken saw his youngest son Jeremy being restrained by three guys, two of them at least outweighed him by twenty-five pounds, he ran to protect him.

When Trish saw her sister crying over a crumpled Jeff, she did not listen to her fiancée. She angrily decided to take action herself. She kicked Kenny right in the chops with a roundhouse kick and Kenny was out cold. She then shot Mark an annoyed look, but he didn’t see it. Mark was already on his way to Wendy. Trish followed closely on his heels.

Ken never made it to his other son. He was headed off by Chip Winthrop, Tommy Martinelli, Joe Martino and Richard Tibbs. “Get out of my house!” growled Chip, as the men dragged them toward the door. Jack Blake had been with his fiancée Becca, quickly took Ken from Joe, who had him in the arm bar that his son, Jason had Ken’s son, Jeremy in.

“Dad we can’t toss them out into the snow,” said Phil.

“Very well, take them to the study,” said Chip, as Jack and Jason took their prisoners towards the study.

When Mark and Trish saw that Jeff was coming around and Wendy had been calmed down, they walked back to Kenny who was till out cold. They revived him, helped to his feet and led him to the study along with his father and his brother. Sharon, Lauren, Dolly and Elsie comforted Paige Killingsworth, while Josie, Amber and Alexis helped Wendy with Jeff.

Jeff’s parents had taken a walk to discuss Willow and Rich’s wedding plans. They had spoken with them earlier that day. They were in Miami for Rich’s appearance with BC in the Orange Bowl. Sometime later they had returned they saw Jeff being flanked by four women, fawning over him. They laughed until Wendy told them what happened and then Ben Meyer angrily made his way to the study.

“Ken, whenever have I given off a vibe that says that your kids can paw my daughters?”

Ken didn’t say anything.

“Hell, if they can paw Patricia and Wendy, then it must be OK for you to put your hands all over my wife too?!” yelled Phil.

“Look, Phil, I’m sorry. We’ve had a long night and the boys just got carried away…”

“Ken, that’s bullshit! There is no excuse for behavior like that and you know it!”

“How would you feel if I did to your mother what you did to Trish?” asked Mark of Kenny.

Kenny did not answer, but his father did. “That’s totally different, you’re not married yet…” started Ken.

“Sir, you don’t know me or how I feel about Patricia Winthrop. Trust me. I love her every bit as much as you love you wife at the very least” said Mark, as he consciously put his hand on Ken’s shoulder, before turning when he heard Tricia’s voice.

“Uncle Ken, Mark is the one,” said Trish, not even looking at Ken, but choosing to cast her eyes into her fiancée’s, before walking toward him, without shifting her gaze and sweetly grasping his lips with hers and into an incredibly tender kiss, which took his breath away.

There was a dead silence in the room. Phil and Chip were smiling, as were Jason, Marcus and Jack Blake. The three Killingsworth men looked at the ground in embarrassment.

Once Mark regained his marbles, he checked out the body language of the three. Through his contact and influence on the senior Killingsworth male, the man seemed to feel some genuine shame, for the actions of his children and his own attitude. Likewise, he sensed that the older boy felt both embarrassment and shame. With them, Mark decided he would extend an olive branch.

Mark believed that the younger boy was a different story. He sensed that while he felt embarrassed, he felt no remorse for his actions. Mark had several ways of dealing with this. He could attempt to modify the boy’s behavior, but he would need to learn about him before he would deem it worth his time. Either way, Mark would get his pound of flesh for what he did to Wendy and Jeff.

Mark smiled at Ken, to ease the tension. “So how do you know Phil and Sharon?”

“My dad is a board member of the company, so Phil and I met through our parents. We then prepped at Exeter together.”

“Well, I guess as someone who had known the family for this long, this must have all been a shock for you and your charming wife,” observed Mark sympathetically.

“I’ll admit, I haven’t seen much of you, Patricia in the last couple of years as I know you had not been getting along with your parents,” admitted Ken.

Trish smiled at her father. “That’s changed,” she said, as she walked over and hugged her father.

“Mark, here is a big reason for that,” grinned Phil, from the clinch.

“Mark and I have had a special relationship since we met. I finally realized how special a couple of months ago,” smiled Trish, after breaking the clinch with her father and walking back to Mark.

“Trish always got me in a way that nobody ever had. I guess I did the same for her, but it took longer for her to understand that. Of course I kept plugging along until I got it through her thick skull,” laughed Mark.

“Yeah, she comes by that hard head quite naturally,” laughed Phil in response.

Trish looked put out, but she really was not. “You know you’re in trouble when your two favorite guys in the whole world are picking on you. Grandpa, do you want to make it three.”

“No honey. I’m always on your side,” smiled Chip.

“Suck up!” laughed Phil.

“Babe, you may have a thick skull, but it’s my thick skull now,” laughed Mark, as he pulled her closer to him and she grinned broadly.

Ken sighed. He had always wanted his eldest boy to marry Patricia. They had been fairly close as children, but by their mid teens, he sensed that they were very different people. He looked at his sullen children. They had been given everything in life. Now, all they knew was how to take. The only thing they never seemed to take was responsibility for anything. That was he and Paige’s fault. Maybe it was time for that to change that, but these days, just holding his family together was enough of a challenge. While he and Paige had spoiled their children, they were barely on speaking terms after the past week. Still, the way the boys were acting, it was only a matter of time before something bad happened to them. He knew he needed to find a way to rein them in before it was too late. Kenny was actually a year older than Trish and Mark, yet based upon his observations, he had about a tenth of their maturity. Ken thought of Mark. Overall, he acted quite graciously about the whole thing.

Ken turned to face Phil and the young couple. “Phil. I’m sorry that this happened. I’m embarrassed at my children’s behavior. “Mark and Patty, please accept my apologies too.”

“Sir, I appreciate your apology, but you don’t really have a lot to apologize for. While I am somewhat annoyed at Kenny’s attitude and behavior toward Trish. I’d be happy to settle for a heartfelt apology to her and small ‘mia culpa’to me and a handshake and we can call it even.” Mark smiled, before turning to glare at a Jeremy. “What I can’t abide and will not tolerate is your youngest son attacking Wendy’s boyfriend, who happens to be one of my best friends. Then to have the unmitigated gall to pull her away, when all she wanted to do was comfort him!”

“Hey, it’s the law of the jungle. If I can take his woman away from him, he doesn’t deserve her,” smirked the kid.

“Jeremy!” yelled his father.

Mark exploded. While the kid wasn’t necessarily a sociopath, he was an arrogant whelp who deserved the back of his hand. “So just because you can do something, you should be able to do it?!” He yelled as he advanced on the kid.

Both boys stood up and they were both immediately shoved back down in their seats by Marcus, Jason and Jack Blake. Their father was strangely silent, as Phil’s glare held him in check.

The silence of the room was broken by an angry newcomer. Ben Meyer stormed into the room. Ben was a pacifist by nature, but when it came to defending his children, he was quite pugnacious and prepared to mix it up. “What in the hell did you do to my kid!” yelled Ben.

“Don’t worry, Ben. Mark has it under control,” said Chip.

“Is this animal, your kid?!” Ben yelled at Ken. Ken did not reply. His head was bowed in shame.

“So what? You’re all going to cry, because your little boy can’t fight his own battles?” asked Jeremy, with a sneer.

At this point, it became clear to Mark that Kenny, like his father, was distancing himself from his arrogant younger sibling, as like his father he was looking on with obvious embarrassment.

Mark determined that it was time to show the arrogant, spoiled snot a lesson. “No, but your mother will be crying when I’m finished with you.”

“So, you are going to fight that punk’s battle for him?”

“No. Jeff can fight his own battles,” said Mark, nodding to Marcus, who walked over and menaced his huge frame over the kid’s relatively tiny one. “No, I’m not doing this for Jeff. I’m going to take you behind the woodshed and kick the crap out of you, for putting your hands on my sweet, sister, Wendy.”

“She’s not your sister,” contradicted the kid.

“She is in every way that matters! I would do anything in the world for that girl and wiping that smirk off your face will be the first thing! You scared her, hurt her and hurt the man that she loves! Now I’m going to hurt you!” yelled Mark, as he hauled the kid to his feet with a strength that surprised everyone in the room except Trish, Marcus and Jason. He then threw the hapless kid over his shoulder, as he flailed at Mark’s back. Mark dumped him on the ground. “Are you going to take your beating like a man or a little girl?!” he yelled.

Jeremy began to cry. Mark hauled him to his feet and twisted him into an arm bar and began to push him toward the door. “Dad!” cried Jeremy plaintively.

“Mark, please...” started Ken.

“Don’t worry, Uncle Ken. Mark won’t hurt him. He’ll just scare him and teach him a lesson,” whispered Trish.

Ben opened to door for Mark and Mark pushed Jeremy into the corridor toward the Ballroom.

“Dad?” asked Kenny, as he saw his brother being pushed out of the room.

“Son, your brother is about to learn that he can’t go around striking people and running his mouth with impunity. A lesson you seemed to have learned. Now let’s see if you’ve learned your lesson in manners,” challenged Ken.

“I’m sorry Uncle Phil and Mr. Winthrop,” said Kenny contritely, before turning to Trish. “Hey, I’m sorry. I made a jackass out of myself. I guess I couldn’t accept that anybody could ever have you but me. Forgive me?” he said, extending his hand to her.

Instead of taking his hand, Trish gave him a soft hug. “I think you and your jaw have learned your lesson,” she laughed, from the clinch, before breaking it.

“Yeah, I never knew you knew martial arts, I thought that was Wendy?”

“Yeah, Wendy is the trained Martial Artist in our family. I’m just a quick study,” she smiled. As everyone walked back to the Great Room, Ken looked at Trish. “OK, so you and Wendy are off limits. That room is full of beautiful girls….”

“Sorry Casanova. Every girl in that room is off limits.”

“Not everyone?”

“Absolutely everyone,” said Trish, as she saw his expression turn to disappointment, she decided to throw him a bone. “You know Kenny… you wouldn’t be a bad guy if you just grew up a little bit. It wouldn’t hurt to be nice to Mark and me either,” she laughed.

“What do you mean?” asked Kenny.

“Practically all of the boys and girls in that room were either directly or indirectly set up by me and Mark.”

“Really?”

“Mark has this incredible way with people. He has this knack of getting to know them, finding their good qualities and bringing them out in such a way that they become good people. I know it worked with me. Before we were even officially introduced, he saved me from being raped by three guys.”

“He sounds like an amazing guy.”

“No, he’s an amazing guy. If you get to know him, you’ll see that.”

“Well, I guess he’s kicking the shit out of Jeremy right now, so he probably isn’t too fond of the Killingsworth family right now.”

“Mark’s not like that. He’s already forgiven you and your dad. Besides, trust me. He won’t hurt Jeremy, but I’ll guarantee you that Jeremy will come back a changed man.”

Mark had pushed Jeremy out of the Ballroom door on to the frozen patio, which was covered in about six inches of snow that had fallen that morning. As the ballroom was not being used, the patio had not been shoveled. “It’s cold out here,” whined Jeremy.

“Shut the fuck up!” barked Mark.

“Where are you taking me?” asked Jeremy.

“I told you. Behind the woodshed,” he said pointing to a structure about one hundred feet toward the other side of the house.”

“I thought that was just a metaphor,” said Jeremy.

“In this case, the metaphor makes a convenient place to kick your ass,” said Mark, as the snow became deeper as they walked toward the shoveled path.

When they got to the path, it became easier, until they reached their destination. Jeremy looked apprehensively at Mark. “So what happens now?”

“I’ll give you a choice: You can throw the first punch, or tell me why I shouldn’t kick your ass and leave you bleeding in the snow,” said Mark.

Jeremy grinned and then threw a wild punch at Marks head, which Mark easily ducked. He then hit Jeremy in the solar plexus and Jeremy tumbled into a nearby snow bank. Mark started laughing. “Bad choice! Want to make a different one, or do you want to try again.”

Jeremy was too busy sucking wind to respond. His gut hurt like hell. Still, he pulled himself up and instead of taking a swing at Mark, he charged into him. Mark calmly braced himself and grabbed him just before impact. He then picked Jeremy up over his head, displaying an incredible feat of strength that both impressed and scared the boy. “Put me down!” Jeremy screamed.

“Where,” asked Mark “How about right on that log pile… no that would hurt wouldn’t it?” mused Mark. “How about into that tree… no that would hurt too. I could just toss you into the woodshed itself…. No, you might break a piece of equipment in there…”

“Just put me down!” cried Jeremy.

“OK,” said Mark, as he tossed Jeremy back into the same snow bank, Jeremy had just pulled himself out of about a minute earlier.

Jeremy just lay on the ground. He tried to get up but he was too sore, tired and cold to be able to move. He had been clearly defeated. After about thirty seconds, he believed that Mark, had left him to die in the cold. He closed his eyes and prepared to give in to the void. Then he felt himself being hauled back to his feet.

“Are you ready to talk now?” asked Mark.

“Aren’t you going to kick the shit out of me or leave me to die?”

“No. I just wanted to let you know that I could have done those things if I wanted.”

“Why don’t you?” asked a humiliated Jeremy.

“Because you have people in that house who care about you.”

“What do you care about them?”

“Here’s a news flash for you, Jeremy. Not everyone is a sociopathic asshole who doesn’t care about people.”

“Is that what you think I am?’

“If I did, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now. I would have just called the cops and they would have hauled your stupid ass away.”

“So what do you think I am?”

“Do you want the truth?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve got good news and bad news. I’ll give you the bad news first,” started Mark. “You’re a spoiled little, arrogant snot who thinks he’s indestructible, because he’s got enough money to stop people from killing him or at least, wanting him dead. You’re a bully, who sucker punches and pretends that he is a great fighter because he cheats. You think that people like you and that women are into you. In reality, the ones that claim they like you just want your money. You don’t have any ‘real friends’, because you wouldn’t know a real friend if you fell over one, like you did that snow bank.” Mark paused. “OK, here’s the good news. You are a scared, insecure, little boy who desperately wants to be liked.”

“That’s good news?” shivered Jeremy.

“Yeah, because I can work with that.”

“You want to help me?” he asked incredulously.

“That depends if you want to be helped or not.”

Jeremy started to cry again. Mark hauled the kid to his feet and threw him into a fireman’s carry. “It’s OK, kid. There’s hope for you yet.”

Paige Killingsworth was in a tizzy at the news that her son was fighting with an older, stronger boy. Despite her husband’s assurance that Jeremy would not be seriously hurt, she was not placated. When she saw the boy beckon to her husband, she ran at him, and soon she was beating her hands into Mark’s chest.

“Paige!” cried Ken, in embarrassment and worry. After Paige’s ordeal, this was likely to make her go into a downward spiral.

“Don’t worry Ken, I need to talk to her. Meet me in the study in about ten minutes. Jeremy is in there,” said Mark, as he squeezed Paige to take most of the force from his blows.

Ken was lost. He felt completely helpless and had no idea what to say or do. He just dumbly nodded and walked toward the study.

Mark gently led the angry woman toward the lounge.

Paige’s anger quickly turned to fear and misery as she saw her husband just let this boy take her away from him. Was he going to hurt her the way that other man had? She felt her hands instinctively cover her groin area as she walked.

“How dare you hurt my boy,” she said with more sorrow than anger.

“Your son is unhurt,” said Mark.

Having fulfilled her maternal instinct, she then looked at him with fear, “What are you going to do to me?”

“Hopefully be your friend,” he smiled tenderly.

“What? What is he trying to pull?” she thought before saying spitefully, “What if I don’t want to be your friend?!”

“Mark took her hand gently with his, and she did not let go.”

“Then that would be a great pity. I’m part of the Winthrop’s family now and you are all such close friends. Besides, I’m already friends with your husband and younger son. I think I’ll be friends with Kenny too.”

Paige felt a warm feeling spread over her, as her body automatically unclenched. “You mean Jeremy likes you after what you did to him?”

“Let’s put it this way, Mrs. Killingsworth, Jeremy hurt Wendy’s boyfriend, Jeff far more than I hurt Jeremy.”

Mark’s powers were beginning to take their toll on Paige. She began to cry.

“I’m so sorry. I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt Wendy’s young man…”

“Shhhhhh…” comforted Mark, has he pulled the woman into his arms and he hugged her and rubbed her back comfortingly as Paige sighed. This was the most relaxed she had felt since her trauma.

At forty-three, Paige Killingsworth was still a lovely woman, Mark felt himself beginning to get aroused. So did Paige. She couldn’t believe she could have feelings like this for anyone; especially this young man she had just met. Within moments, she was nuzzling his neck and Mark kissed her on the cheek before realizing the danger of what was about to happen. He quickly broke the clinch and smiled at her. Paige was smiling too.

“Thank you, Mark. You are such a sweet and handsome young man. I can see why Patty fell in love with you.”

“That’s sweet of you to say, Paige. I referred to you as charming when I spoke with your husband, I can see I wasn’t mistaken,” smiled Mark.

Paige Killingsworth blushed. She felt like a schoolgirl with a crush on her teacher. More importantly, she felt happy and safe for the first time in weeks. She then put her arm on his shoulder and pulled him into a tight embrace. As she kissed him on the cheek, she made sure to rub her sizable breasts against his torso, and her hips against his crotch.

“Shit!” thought Mark.

When she broke the clinch, she looked at him with a blush and grinned, “Patty really is a lucky girl.”

As Mark led the enamored woman back to the Great room, he was half cursing himself and half reflecting on her comments on “Patty’s luck” “to the luck of Ken Killingsworth’s”.

Mark made a point of running to get to the study. In the room, both Killingsworth men were sitting; one in contrition, the other in concern.

“Mark, is Paige OK?”

“She’s fine, Ken. I need to talk to you about Jeremy, though.”

“Alright.”

“Jeremy and I have decided that he should go to Sanders next year instead of Dartmouth.”

“But Mark, there is a family tradition that we all go to Dartmouth. I went there. Kenny is still there.”

“Dad. Mark has helped me to see that I’m out of control. I’m a time bomb, just waiting to do REAL damage… the kind that I won’t be able to walk away from.”

“Ken, Jeremy told me that he’s already been accepted at Sanders as his ‘safety school’.”

“It’s true.”

“Then he should go,” said Mark before continuing. “Kenny will have a support system at Sanders. People will be there who can help him to see the kind of person he should be. I have about 40 students and staff who would be willing to help him. He won’t have that at Dartmouth.”

“Dad, if Mark thinks’ I’ve made enough progress after two years and my grades are good enough, I can transfer to Dartmouth,” said an excited Jeremy.

“Mark, if you don’t mind answering. Why would you do this for Jeremy?”

Mark closed the distance between them and put his hand on his shoulder, “Ken, you are good friends with the Winthrop’s, I mean almost family, right?”

“Yeah, but after the way we barged in and acted…”

“As the Winthrop’s are my family now, so are you. I’ve learned an important lesson: Family should always forgive and family should always be willing to help.”

Mark could see the older man begin to tear up and decided to help him save face with his son. “Hey Jeremy. Why don’t you make those apologies we talked about. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Sure Mark. Hey man, Thanks again!” said Jeremy, with akin to hero worship as he left the study.

When the door closed, Ken’s tearful eyes flooded, with no sign of stopping.

“Hey Ken… it’s OK,” he put his hand on the man’s shoulder again. He eventually calmed a bit, but Mark knew that something awful was haunting this man. It was something that he didn’t want his son to know.

“Thank you, Mark! You don’t know how much this all means to me.”

“Ken, I know we still don’t know each other that well, by I can tell. Something’s bothering you. Let me help.”

Ken looked at his feet. “Mark, I’m in Hell.”

“What’s wrong?”

“My family is falling apart and we’re all in great danger.”