Chapter 19

After stacking the drawing on the table by size, Ryan gave Merrick a fast lesson on what matting entailed. Then they set to work measuring and cutting the mat boards to the proper sizes—two for each picture.

“Now you get to watch,” Ryan said when they finished. “It’s not that I don’t trust your ability to angle the blade just so…” He demonstrated on a scrap of board. “But…”

Merrick chuckled. “You’ve been doing it for years. I’m a rank amateur. Got it.”

He did watch, fascinated by the dexterity with which Ryan wielded the mat knife to turn the mat board into a frame for the first drawing. When Ryan was finished, he put the drawing on its uncut mat board, set the cut one over it, securing everything in the process, then held it up for Merrick to see.

“Looks damned good to me,” Merrick told him, earning a brilliant smile from Ryan. “Now, however, it’s time for you to give it a rest.”