A Perfect Trade. Anna Sugden

holler if you need him.” Harry unclipped his seat belt. “Now, have you got that list the IVF nurse gave you? I want to make sure I get the right prenatal vitamins, since the ones your doctor prescribed made you so sick.”

      “I can get them.” She smiled. “I’m supposed to behave normally. Walking around a drugstore won’t do any harm.”

      “But I can be in and out in ten minutes.” Harry’s jaw set. “Besides, I thought you didn’t want anyone to know about the procedure yet. Won’t people be curious if they see you looking at pregnancy vitamins?”

      Harry had a point. She could avoid unnecessary gossip if he fetched the vitamins for her.

      “We’ll go in together. You can get these.” She handed him the nurse’s note. “While I get some other things I need, like cotton balls and nail polish remover.”

      “Okay. But the sooner you’re home with your feet up, the better I’ll feel.”

      She patted his arm. “This is really all about your delicate feelings, isn’t it?”

      Harry laughed. “Isn’t it always about me?”

      The long line at the prescription counter made the drugstore more crowded than usual. As they walked past the small, seated waiting area, she heard someone calling her.

      “Coo-ee, Jenny!”

      Tru’s mother, Karina, waved her over.

      Harry squeezed Jenny’s arm, then wandered off toward the vitamins aisle. He’d probably rub it in all the way home that they’d bumped into one of the last people Jenny would want to discuss a potential pregnancy with. Not because she didn’t like Karina—she was very fond of her—but because of the woman’s son.

      Jenny glanced over at the counter. Her heart gave a little jolt as she saw Tru chatting with the pharmacist.

      Why did he have to look so good? A faded red Ice Cats T-shirt stretched across Tru’s broad chest, showing off his toned arms and flat stomach. Blue jeans, worn almost white in parts—all the right parts—molded to his powerful legs and his fine backside. Her pulse fluttered; she’d always been one for great legs.

      Stop! She dragged her gaze away, giving herself a stern talking-to. What was wrong with her? The fertility hormones had to be messing with her brain.

      “Hi, Karina.” She hugged the older woman. “How are you?”

      “I’m fine. I had to get my blood pressure medicine refilled. One of the good things about my boys not being in the play-offs is they can help me run errands.” She winked.

      Before Jenny could respond, Tru joined them.

      “Jenny.” He nodded coolly.

      “Tru.” Her acknowledgment was equally cool.

      “Ma, your prescription will be ready in a few minutes. Mr. Jordan says you need to remember to take the tablets every day, otherwise they won’t do you much good.”

      Karina waved a hand dismissively. “I’m only taking the medicine to keep Dr. Harris happy. I’m as fit as a violin.”

      His mouth quirked at the corner. “Fit as a fiddle, Ma.”

      “Fiddle, violin. It’s the same, no?”

      “Close enough.” He shared an amused look with Jenny.

      Though Karina had been in America for most of her adult life, she still mixed up phrases. Back when he was a teenager, Tru’d been embarrassed by his mother’s mistakes. But Jenny, who had missed her own mother terribly, had helped him see that it was cool to have a mother who was different.

      The warmth of the shared memory made her pulse flutter again.

      “Karina Jelinek,” the pharmacy assistant called out.

      “I’ll get it, Ma. Be right back.” Tru strode back to the counter.

      Jenny felt strangely disappointed at the interruption.

      Then she saw Harry walking toward her, holding a white plastic bag. Perfect timing.

      “Good to see you, Karina,” Jenny said.

      “You should come by the house sometime. I’ll make those apple bars you used to love.”

      “Yum. I’ll visit soon.” She turned toward Harry.

      He was a few feet away, when he stopped suddenly. He looked confused. Then his right arm dropped limply by his side and the bag slipped from his fingers to the floor.

      Jenny walked over and picked up the bag. “Harry, are you okay?”

      He looked at her and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

      Worried, Jenny touched his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

      Again he tried to speak, but didn’t seem able to. His face was gray, his skin clammy.

      “Is he having a heart attack?” Karina asked, behind her.

      “I don’t think so. He doesn’t look in pain.” She pulled her boss over to the waiting area. “Sit down, Harry. You’ll be fine in a minute.”

      He let her seat him, but looked at her as if he couldn’t understand what she was saying.

      Panicking now, she called across to the counter. “We need help here.”

      Tru’s head whipped round. “What’s going on?”

      “I don’t know. Something’s wrong with Harry.”

      Everyone stood, staring. They seemed frozen in place.

      Except for Tru.

      He rushed over and crouched in front of Harry, studying him. “Does it hurt anywhere?”

      Harry tried to speak again. This time his words came out garbled. Then he grabbed his head and moaned. As if in slow motion, the right side of his face began to droop.

      Her gaze met Tru’s. She saw in the green depths that he’d come to the same terrifying conclusion as she had.

      Panic clutched at her chest. “He’s having a stroke.”

      “Call 911,” Tru ordered. “We need an ambulance. Now.”

      Before she could move to get her phone, Harry’s eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped to the ground.

      * * *

      “BUT YOU HAVE to let me go with him.”

      Jenny’s frantic words and stricken expression, as she watched the stretcher with her unconscious boss being loaded into the ambulance, tugged at Tru’s heart. She was normally so calm and in control, it was a shock to see her floundering.

      “I’m sorry, ma’am, but we’re prohibited from taking anyone in the ambulance.” The paramedic’s tone was sympathetic, but firm, as he closed the rear doors.

      “Not even family?” She was clearly too upset to realize that arguing would only delay the ambulance.

      “Jenny.” Tru touched her arm.

      She whirled to face him, her body language angry and defensive. “What?”

      His breath caught in his throat at the anguish in her blue eyes.

      “Let them do their job.” He drew her away from the ambulance. “The sooner they get Harry to the hospital, the better.”

      She glared at him for a few seconds, but gradually the frustration drained from her expression, leaving her pale and drawn. “He needs me there, with him.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “He shouldn’t be alone.”

      The ambulance driver started the engine. Jenny flinched, then stepped forward, as if to stop the vehicle from leaving.

      Tru put an arm around