My Ex Has Excellent Taste

How it begins

Mabel Ellis knew three things about the woman who entered her workshop: she was not there to buy a notebook, she had carried the parcel herself, and she was wearing the engagement ring Mabel had once returned in an envelope.

The woman set the parcel on the counter.

"Celia Ward. I hope this isn't an impossible request."

Mabel looked at the ring again.

"I find those arrive in several forms."

Outside, the coastal town was enjoying a morning so bright it seemed personally insensitive. Bicycles rattled past the window. A delivery boy whistled a tune Mabel almost recognized and then ruined it by becoming confident.

Celia unwrapped a large family atlas. Its spine had split, and one corner bore a dark water stain.

Mabel's professional attention took over before her less useful feelings could organize themselves.

"Who repaired this last?"

"A man who said he understood old books."

"People say a great many things about themselves."

Celia smiled. It was not the embarrassed smile Mabel had expected from a woman visiting her fiancé's former wife. It was the expression of someone delighted to have found a shared language.

"I was told you're the best person for difficult work."

"By whom?"

"The woman at the stationer's. Your former husband suggested someone cheaper."

Mabel laughed before she could decide whether she wanted to.

She opened the atlas carefully. Between two pages lay a pressed flower and a small pencil drawing of a mountain pass. The line work was precise and impatient.

"Yours?" Mabel asked.

Celia nodded. "I used to travel for the drawings."

Used to. Mabel heard the weight of it.

The ring caught the light as Celia reached toward the page, then stopped herself before touching the damaged paper.

"Could it be made usable again?"

Mabel looked at the map, the flower, and the woman waiting for an answer that might concern more than binding.

"Usable," she said, "is usually more interesting than perfect."