MY NEW YEAR’S PLANS were solid. I’d invited Alistair over for five o’clock, and we were going to have an epic Risk tournament, fueled by root beer, Twizzlers, and pretzels. Then, at around eight, Phoebe and Violet were going to come over. I told them we could just hang out and watch a movie, but instead I had a surprise: we were going to have a marathon TV-watching session of the first season of the original Doctor Who, which Alistair had gotten for Christmas. I couldn’t wait to see Phoebe’s face when I told her. I also couldn’t wait to see her face when I gave her the unicorn pin.

Phil left early in the morning to go skiing in Whistler for the day with Michael, a two-hour drive north of the city. He promised to be home by eight at the latest, when most of our friends would be arriving. Dad and Caroline made us a big breakfast before they left at eleven to catch their ferry. “What’s up for tonight?” Dad asked as we wolfed down scrambled eggs, sausages, and toast.

I told him my plans. Ashley said, “You can’t hog the family room with your nerd-fest. I’m having a few people over, too.”

“How many people?” my dad asked.

“Just three. Jared, Paulo, and Lauren.” I wasn’t thrilled to hear Jared’s name, or Paulo’s, for that matter.

“Can’t you all hang out together?” asked Caroline.

“Mom, please. Reality check!”

So we agreed that Alistair and I would have our “nerd-fest,” aka the Doctor Who marathon, in Dad and Caroline’s room, since they also have a TV/DVD player, and Ashley and her friends would have dibs on the family room.

Once they were gone, I did a bit of work on my electric bike. At five, Alistair arrived, and we got the Risk game set up in the kitchen. We’d been playing for over two hours when the phone rang. It was Phil.

“Stewart, hi.”

“Hey, Phil. How was skiing?”

“It was great. But the traffic’s a nightmare. We’re still north of Squamish. The radio’s saying there’s a bad accident up ahead. We’re at a standstill.”

“Maybe you should pull off and go to a restaurant till it clears.”

“We may do that. How are things there?”

“Everything’s fine,” I said, just as Ashley wandered into the kitchen for a glass of water. “Your dad’s stuck in traffic,” I told her. “He’s going to be a lot later than he thought.”

She shrugged. “Okay. Say hi.” Then she left the room.

“Listen, Stewart,” Phil said. “I love my daughter, but she doesn’t always show the best judgment. I’m counting on you to be the reasonable one until I get there.”

“I will.”

“Thanks. I’m really sorry about this.”

“Phil, it’s fine. We’re just having a few people over. What can go wrong?”

Famous last words.