Businessman Sam Lufti, 33, has been Spears's closest pal the last few months. Sources tell PEOPLE that Lufti (with her in Oct. 4), a family friend, helped arrange Britney's reunion with her mother after realizing "he just couldn't be around for her 24-7," says a source. Photo by: INF |
And her legal woes are not fully behind her either: On Oct. 9, an L.A. Superior Court Commissioner ordered that Britney be formally booked and fingerprinted no later than Oct. 25 for a recent misdemeanor charge for an Aug. 6 hit-and-run accident that involved a parked car (yes, there will soon be a Britney mug shot). She faces jail time if convicted, but her lawyer J. Michael Flanagan hopes it won't come to that. "We're working toward a resolution of the case," says Flanagan, "but we don't have a firm deal yet." Britney is also due back in court on Oct. 26 so that a commissioner can check on her progress in the custody case. "If she passes all of her tests from here on out, Kevin would be very pleased," says Mark Vincent Kaplan. "But nothing so far has happened to alter Kevin's request to the court."
If Britney should eventually regain partial custody of her kids on the heels of her reunion with her mother, it might be tempting to think that she has finally turned a corner, but no one who knows her will dare to say that now. All that her friends from Kentwood are hoping is that some much-needed quality family time has, at least, pointed Britney in the right direction. "She has always listened to her mother before, and if anyone can get her attention, it'll be Lynne," says one friend. "Britney is just a mama's girl at heart."
• By Alex Tresniowski. With Pernilla Cedenheim, Jennifer Garcia, Ken Lee, Mary Margaret and Daniel J. Vargas in Los Angeles and Alicia Dennis and Steve Helling in Kentwood
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