Emma froze. She heard a voice she hadn't heard in nearly 14 years. It couldn't be him. She took a deep breath, looked up, and she felt faint. It was him. He was older but there was no mistaking that face, Sean Cameron of all people was walking towards her. She nearly squeaked out his name, "Sean?"

"Wow, it is you." Sean smiled and walked up to her, "So are you my agent today?"

"Um, yes, Miriam's sick so I said I would do this showing for her."

"Yeah, she texted me and told me she wasn't feeling well but she also assured me that her coworker would take good care of me." He smiled at her. "It's really great to see you."

"It's great to see you too."

They hugged awkwardly and Sean pulled away. "Just so you know, I don't have that much time because I have to get back to work."

"Right." Emma took out the set of keys to get into the building and into the apartment. "Well, let's head upstairs then."

Sean couldn't believe it. He thought his mind was playing tricks on him. But it wasn't, it was really Emma Nelson. He followed her into the building and into the elevator. The ride up was awkward and silent. He couldn't think of anything to say to her and she was avoiding saying anything to him. He noticed her left hand had a band on the ring finger and he immediately felt sad then realized that was a silly thing to feel. They hadn't seen each other for so long. Not since they were 18, so why would it matter if she was single or not? She moved on with her life and isn't harboring feelings for him like Sean is for her.

Emma was afraid she would trip in front of Sean. Her legs felt weak. She couldn't believe it was him. She kept thinking to herself, 'Don't trip,' repeatedly, and she took her steps carefully. When they got into the elevator, she couldn't even look at him. She was afraid she'd reveal too much just by looking at him so she looked at her phone and pretended to be busy with work stuff.

As they walked down the hall together, with Emma walking slightly ahead of Sean, she started her sales pitch, "So this place is a two-bedroom, it has 2 and 1⁄2 baths, it's 1600 square feet, it's open concept and you have a balcony that has views of the lake."

Sean couldn't care less. He couldn't stop looking at her. "Yeah, sounds great."

Emma keyed in and opened the door. "Oh, and there's a gym on the third floor and a nice roof deck with a barbecue and seating areas in case you want to throw a party."

"Great." Sean followed her inside.

"Here's the half bath." She opened the door, "It's a nice feature because people won't have to use either of the bathrooms attached to the bedrooms."

Sean peeked in. It was modern, clean and perfect. It had a glass vessel sink on top of a wood cabinet. "This is great." He thought to himself, 'Jesus, Cameron, stop saying great.'

Emma walked into the main part of the apartment which contained the kitchen, dining area, and living area. The two bedrooms were on either side and they both had attached baths. They considered the bedroom on the left the master because it was slightly bigger, had a bigger closet and had access to the balcony. "The bedrooms are nearly identical but this one," She pointed toward the left, "Is a bit bigger and it has balcony access."

"Oh, okay." Sean walked in and Emma followed. He looked at the balcony, "That's really nice," He turned and looked at her, "But it's a little too cold to go back out there." He then walked around the room. He opened the closet and chuckled, "I definitely don't need this much closet space."

Emma smiled. She noticed his left ring finger was empty and wondered if he was single or just not committed to anyone.

He walked into the master bathroom and nodded, "This is perfect. Kind of masculine, don't you think?" He opened and closed the doors on the bathroom vanity which was dark wood with a quartz counter and two white vessel sinks.

Emma nodded, "Yeah, I'd probably add a little chandelier to make it not so masculine in here."

Sean looked at her and Emma walked out of the bathroom.

"Anyway," She walked back into the living area, "What do you think of the main living space?"

Sean followed her and looked around, "I like this a lot. It's bright in here."

"Yeah. South-facing windows bring in a lot of light during the day." Emma pointed toward a corner in the room, "This would probably be where you'd put a dining table."

Sean smiled and said, "Guess I have to buy one." Emma smiled and Sean walked over to the second bedroom. He peeked in and looked back at Emma, "This place is really something."

Emma smiled, "Oh! I forgot to show you the best part."

"Oh?"

She nodded, "Yep." They walked back toward the entryway and Emma opened a door that Sean thought was another closet but it revealed a stacked washer/dryer.

"Oh yeah, that is perfect." He looked and said, "I'm sick of having to do my laundry in a laundromat."

Emma smiled and closed the door, "So, are you thinking about getting this place?"

He nodded, "Yep," He looked toward the second bedroom, "I was a little worried about it being too big for just me but I can always use that room as an office or guest room for my parents."

"How are they doing?"

"They're getting old."

Emma smiled.

Sean said, "Anyway, let me think about it. I can let you know by close of business today."

"Sounds good." She took out her phone. "Let's exchange numbers."

"Okay."

"I'll give you my personal number since we're old friends."

Sean smiled. They exchanged numbers and Sean said, "I really have to get going but I'll call you before 5, okay?"

"Yep. I'll be waiting."

He hugged her again, "It was great to see you."

"It was great to see you too."

The hug lingered a little longer than either of them expected and Sean suddenly pulled away, "So I'll talk to ya later."

"Yep."

"Bye."

Sean nearly jogged out of the apartment then looked back at the door as it closed. He couldn't believe it. Emma Nelson was back in his life. There were so many times when he wanted to get in touch with her but chickened out and now she was back, seemingly out of nowhere.

Emma stood inside the apartment shellshocked. She had to sit down for a few moments and compose herself before she could leave. She felt like she was on the verge of tears and she needed to calm down. Emma wasn't ready to have Sean back in her life. Not until she could figure out how to tell him about his son.

Her phone buzzed. It was Archie again. "More good news. Drew got an 83 on his history exam. The tutoring is working."

Emma smiled then thought about Sean. How was he going to react when he finds out he has an almost 14-year-old son he never knew existed?

Sean drove back to work and couldn't concentrate at all. He was so shocked to see Emma that he didn't know how to act around her. He didn't even ask her what was going on in her life or about the ring on her finger. But Emma was also silent. Sean assumed she was just as shocked to see him as he was to see her.

Sean looked at the clock on his computer screen and when it hit 4:45, he called Emma.

As he waited for her to answer, he rehearsed the conversation in his head but as soon as she answered that went out the window.

"This is Emma."

"Hey, it's Sean."

"Oh hi. Sorry, I'm in work mode and didn't even realize I was answering my personal phone."

Sean laughed, "That's okay."

Emma asked, "So have you decided?"

"Yep. I will bid on it."

"Wonderful! Miriam will be thrilled."

"I'm sure she will be. This was the 10th place she pulled for me."

"Wow. I didn't realize you were so picky, Sean."

He laughed, "Yeah, neither did I."

Emma laughed and looked at her computer, "So I can send you the paperwork via email then you can print it out, sign it and scan it."

"Sounds good."

Sean gave her his email address and Emma asked, "Cameron's Custom Cars?"

"Yep. Opened nearly three years ago."

"Sean, that's amazing."

"Yeah, I still can't believe it."

"I don't mean to sound condescending when I say this but I'm proud of you."

"Thank you. That means a lot coming from you, Em."

As soon as he called her, "Em," Emma felt tears building in her eyes and she cleared her throat, "So I'll send you the paperwork in a few minutes and you can send it to Miriam as soon as you can. I'll copy her in the email."

"Sounds good."

"Okay, well, it was good seeing you."

"It was good to see you too."

Her heart started racing, but she didn't want this to be it between them. So she asked him out, "Sean?"

"Yeah?"

"I was just wondering if you'd like to go out to dinner sometime?"

Sean asked, "Your husband wouldn't mind?"

Emma asked, "Husband?"

"Yeah, I noticed you were wearing a band on your left hand."

"Oh!" Emma laughed, "I'm not married. I just wear that as a deterrent."

"Is it that much of a problem?"

"You wouldn't believe how much of a problem it is. Even married men hit on me."

"Well, I mean who could blame them." Sean cleared his throat, "So you're not married or engaged?"

"No, I am not. I am single." Emma asked, "And you? Wife? Fiance?"

"No. Not even close."

Emma felt relieved, "Oh yeah?"

"Yes."

"So dinner?"

Sean smiled, "Yes. I would love to. We haven't seen each other for a long time and it would be nice to catch up properly."

She smiled, "Good."

He asked, "How about this Friday night?"

Emma smiled, "I'm available."

Sean said, "Good. We have a lot to catch up on."

"We certainly do." Emma thought about just how much they had to catch up on and her heart started racing.

"I'll call you later in the week and we'll finalize plans then."

"Okay, sounds good."

Sean didn't want to hang up with her, but one of his workers was standing in his door. "Um, Em, I gotta go. One of my guys needs me."

"Okay, I'll talk to you soon."

"Yeah, bye."

"Bye."

Sean looked at his mechanic Brad and asked, "Everything okay?"

"Yep. Just letting you know I'm done with the BMW."

"Great," Sean stood up, "Let's take a look at it."

Emma knew going out to dinner with Sean would be risky, but she hoped that she'd come up with a way to tell him about Drew before Friday arrived. She knew his reaction would not be a good one, but she wanted to be the one to tell him. She couldn't take the chance of him finding out on his own.