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didn’t have full custody.
    The thought filled her with the kind of dark desperation she didn’t want to dump on anybody. She smoothed down her pants and rubbed the heels of her hands on the side. She was a model; she could certainly smile on demand, so she did. She didn’t want Sophie to worry. “I was shaken up yesterday. I was too tired. I made more of things than what they really were. We’ll be fine at home.”
    Sophie was her only friend left. All the others had dropped off one by one over the years. They didn’t like Keith. And Keith hated them. They weren’t really her friends anyway, according to him. They just pitied her because she was such a screwup.
    If Sophie found out how weak she was, what a mess her life really was, maybe Sophie wouldn’t be her friend either. Wendy brushed some invisible lint off her pants. “I just needed a good night’s sleep. I got that last night. Thank you. I’m totally fine now.”
    Sophie flashed her an encouraging smile. “Stay for a day or two. Give yourself a chance to think. At least you get out of the paint fumes. I swear those hallways at the apartment building are toxic. But they’ll be all painted in a day or two. And you’d be helping me out. It’s nice not to have the house stand empty. I still have all this furniture and some computer equipment here. Treat this like a mini vacation.”
    No such thing as a vacation from Keith, but Wendy couldn’t tell Sophie that. She wanted to stay, she really did, but she was afraid she was making everything worse. And the idea of some private bodyguard made her even more nervous.
    If Keith did find her here and saw her with a man, he’d probably kill them both.
    “I don’t want to put anyone out.” She fixed her model mask on her face, the one that showed no emotion, certainly not fear.
    But it didn’t look like Sophie was buying it. She went still, worry sitting openly in her eyes. “I’m scared for you and Justin.”
    Wendy gave a quick laugh. “Keith had a bad day. He knocked me over by accident. You’d think if I could walk down the runway in six-inch heels, I could stand steady barefooted in my own kitchen. I was a little lightheaded. I skipped breakfast.”
    “Are you dieting?”
    “No.” She hadn’t been yesterday, but she did cut back to a low-fat, low-sugar smoothie today. Keith had said she was gaining. She wasn’t as strong or as smart as Sophie. Her figure was all she had. She earned her living with it. She couldn’t afford to gain weight, as Keith had reminded her a million times in the past.
    She’d be showing soon. The few weeks she had left that she could still work, she needed desperately.
    Sophie tilted her head. “Extra security wouldn’t hurt. To be on the safe side. Joe kept an eye on me when I needed help.” She grinned. “He’s so hot, he has his own Broslin fan club. And he likes you.”
    “I’m not in the market for a romantic fling. No offense, but Joe Kessler is a total jock, ex-small-town football hero with an inflated ego.” If she ever let another man into her life, he was going to be the exact opposite, someone who would be a great father for Justin.
    Her out-of-this-world-hot one-night-stand with Joe notwithstanding. Whatever had gotten into her the night of the fund-raiser, the first night Justin had been away from her, staying at the log cabin with Sophie and Bing…. Something like that could never happen again.
    Sophie wrapped her pristine white silk scarf around her neck. “It’s not your fault that Keith turned into a jerk. He used to be better.”
    Wendy filled her lungs. “He works too much. He’s responsible for more than his fair share of accounts. The stress level at work is incredible.”
    He told her that every time he apologized for flying off the handle. “ I’m sorry, babe. I’m exhausted. I love you so much, you drive me crazy.”  
    “Does he still do drugs?”
    “No. He only took speed for a while, to be able to keep up with work.” That