Cookies had been set out on towering trays like an English tea party. Macaroons, my favorite. Between that and Henry’s comments about the Rolling Stone interview, clearly everyone had done their homework. I like the salted caramel ones best. How they melt in your mouth. You don’t have to chew too much. They just… dissolve. Delish. I ate four and slipped Pip one.

Jack Alpine was number one. He walked to the table and circled it, surveying the presents from every side. He chose a box wrapped in leather with an embossed bow burned on the top.

“This looks good,” he said. He had some trouble opening it. The snaps were so little. Definitely his hands would be more comfortable around like an axe. It was like a live-action unboxing video—my second biggest YouTube obsession after clips of Claudine Longet singing on Andy Williams’s old variety show. Inside was a small glass case. He lifted the top off and looked baffled. He glanced at his brother, who shrugged.

“It’s the Gucci belt buckle!” cried Mrs. Tiggleman. It was totally obvious Mrs. Tiggleman had brought it. I’m going to guess she’d never looked more alive.

“Don’t worry, Zara,” Claudine said. “Aspen has a Gucci store on Galena.” This was actually good to know.

Alice was number two. Immediately she took the belt buckle from Jack. People shrieked like she’d stolen his car or something. This was fun. Even I was getting into it.

So this meant Jack went again. Back to the table. He took another present. This one much larger, something unmistakably not jewelry, wrapped in crisp, bright red paper. It opened much easier. It was a strange device-type thing. He lifted it from the box and held it up so everyone could see.

“Authentic solid gold nautical compass!” shouted Captain Tiggleman. So far, everyone was really bad at concealing what they brought.

Steve was like, real gold?

And he said, “Real as a heart attack.” Then Mrs. Tiggleman elbowed him in the side and shot an apologetic look toward Henry. To which Claudine threw in a casual, “Don’t worry, it wasn’t a heart attack.”

“I love it,” Jack said, wrapping it in his arms. “If everyone could just forget it exists, please.”

Third was Mrs. Tiggleman. She was passive-aggressively complaining about how low her number was but still amped up at the same time. Claudine took this as a teaching moment, to remind everyone that there was always a chance they could go again later in the game if someone stole their gift. The beauty of the rules. A game with a second chance. Possibly.