Cully didn't realize when the change happened, but her mother did.
No matter where she was; home, school, working out of town, she was the same. Cully called her mother every Sunday to catch up.
Joyce knew her daughter cared about her parents, but she suspected the calls started out of guilt. When Cully went away to school it wasn't on the best terms. Tom was still so against the theater as a profession, and Cully with her father's temper would not be swayed.
That day Cully packed up was a tense day of morose silence. She'd hugged Joyce, given her father a curt nod and left.
Joyce wasn't normally a worrier, but she didn't hear from Cully for another 3 months.
Joyce was so concerned she asked Marcie's mother nearly every week if she had heard anything from the girls. Marcie was a friend of Cully's also at Cambridge, she was studying accounting.
Every week Marsha would calmly placate Mrs. Barnaby that she had heard from them, and all was fine.
After 3 months Marsha was over in the Cambridge area for something work related on a Wednesday. Joyce had sent a new sweater for Cully with her. She had even considered tagging along, but knew that Cully wouldn't open up again if she didn't let Cully come to her when she was ready.
After that visit Marsha assured Joyce that Cully looked well, and everything was alright. She had a smile on her face when she said it, like she knew something.
On Sunday of that same week, Cully called her mother. Those first moments hearing her voice were very emotional for Joyce. Cully was her only child and even though Joyce was fairly immune to the emotional swings her husband and daughter were prone to, the increasing void between them was hard for her to bare.
Cully was slightly removed at first, still suspicious if her mother would mention anything about her chosen path. But as they chatted about the weather, the Spring plantings and the new wing being built on campus, Cully eased into her old self. Joyce felt a weight fall off her body when the call concluded 30 minutes later.
Cully made no promises to call again, and Joyce was content with what she could get. But from that point on, unless there was a show, in which case she would call on a different day, Cully always called her mother at 1pm on Sundays.
Those calls were about life, about nothing, about the weather, about the news. A few months later, after Tom and Cully's bond was restored, Cully always made sure to ask about his latest case.
Joyce recalled the first time her daughter asked about Gavin, it was the week after Joyce had told Cully what Tom had said about his driving. After discussing Joyce's newly planted rhododendrons Cully had asked if there had been any new close calls with "Dad's hotshot partner".
"No" Joyce said, chuckling, "no accidents to speak of. But the way your father tells it he nearly dies each time he gets in the car."
"Oh psh" Cully said, "it can't be all that bad. Dad is just being dramatic. He said the same thing when I was learning to drive."
"Yes" Joyce replied, "but according to him at least you eventually learned. Gavin is not so ready to pay attention to the road. I think he fears the drives more than murderers at this point."
Cully had just laughed.
A few weeks later Cully had been home from University for a week's break. Joyce had had to leave to visit a sick friend and wasn't able to see her off on Monday. That following Sunday afternoon, like clockwork, Joyce answered the phone while sitting in the kitchen with a lemonade and a gardening book.
After updating Joyce on her newest classes and professors, Cully began, "Oh, Mum I didn't tell you. I decided Dad is just being overly fussy about Gavin's driving. But I'm sure that's no surprise to you that he could blow things out of proportion."
"What?" Joyce asked, confused about what Cully was saying.
"I was headed home on my bike from the bookstore Monday when it poured out of nowhere. I rode to the Gazebo in the park for cover. Well there was a football group breaking up at the same time. Gavin was there and offered me a lift home." Cully chuckled. "I didn't think his driving was bad at all, even in the rain."
Joyce was interested in this. She knew Gavin and Cully had met once or twice, but wasn't aware they knew each other outside of when they saw one another at the house. There was nothing wrong in it, but she wasn't going to mention that to Tom when she summarized her call with Cully to him later. He would just complain about Gavin's driving putting more of his family members at risk. And Joyce like Gavin well enough to avert any additional grievance if she could.
"He did have a bit of a time trying to get the bike in the trunk though." Cully laughed, pulling her mother out of her thoughts. "So if he and Dad have to solve any spatial puzzles, I think I would put money on Dad."
"You know your father and his puzzles." Joyce said, and they both laughed.