Chapter 71 Cece
Cece
Cece waits for everyone to find their seat after Georgia’s confession. She feels for the girl and frankly had not a clue she
was pretending about so much. She feels a bit foolish now, what with how she pushed her away all this time.
“Georgia, first of all, I’m glad you told us the truth, and like the others I’ll say you’re welcome here any and all days.
And you’re free to choose as you please.” Cece pulls in a breath. “And I’m sorry for being a bit harsh—ok, plenty harsh—about
you sticking to the June plan. I only did it because I thought it was your plan too.”
“Thank you,” Georgia says.
“Next order of business: this June naming nonsense,” Cece announces. “It’s time we put it all to bed.”
“Finally,” Tina says.
Rich looks on nodding, and when his and Cece’s eyes meet, he asks, “Should I go?”
Cece shakes her head. “You’re considered a Louise by now too. You stay as long as you like.
“Now, this naming nonsense has been a curse on this family since your great-grandmother Dot,” Cece continues. “You two are the latest generation hurt by her dramatics. We wanted to keep y’all out of it for as long as we could.”
“Great-Grandmother Dot,” Junie says, looking puzzled. “Was she the one who moved out to California or something?”
“No, honey, that was June,” Tina says.
Georgia squints in confusion. “Another firstborn who didn’t run the shop? Hang on, how did I not know about this?”
Cece sighs. “We intentionally glossed over it. And to be honest, y’all didn’t ask, so we didn’t bring it up. You had enough
on your plate with losing your mama, and Rich going dark for a while there. Georgia, I think you had a family tree project
once, and we just said Dot died when we were babies.”
“If only,” Tina mutters under her breath.
“Wow, ok. Tell us the rest.” Junie flops back in her seat at the revelation.
“Whoopsie there!” Tina reaches out to support her. “You a little wobbly, honey?”
Junie throws on her feeble granny voice. “Oh, the weight of Louise family lore is too much for these brittle bones to handle.”
She cackles in delight.
Cece lets a beat pass because she’s not sure the girls have any idea what she’s about to tell them. She’s kept this from them
to make sure they knew their family, their home, as a sturdy, reliable place. For years, she feared anything that might rock
them. They’d already endured so much.
“This is about why your mother, June, named you two the way she did,” Cece says.
“You knew this whole time?” Georgia asks.
“We didn’t want to keep it a secret from you,” Tina says. “But y’all didn’t need to hear it as girls. Now it’s time for it
to come out in the open. And with the shop having a fresh start, maybe we all can too.”
“Your mother didn’t want to name either of you June,” Cece says.
“So she picked a new name for Georgia, but once our grandmother, Dot, who owned the shop at the time, caught wind of it, she threatened June. She said if your mother had another girl, she had to name her June, or Dot would disinherit the lot of us—June, me, and Tina. Give the shop to anyone outside the family tree.”
“But why did she care so much?” Georgia asks.
“Dot was obsessed with being a June because she wasn’t one,” Tina said. “Simply put, she was jealous, and she let jealousy
consume her.”
“I tried to talk everyone out of it,” Cece says. “I’d rather have let June do as she pleased—as we all agree Louise women
should do—and wave this place farewell. But your mother . . .”
“She had a big heart. Like both you girls,” Tina says. “And she didn’t feel it was her place to lose the shop—for everyone,
and y’all to come—for her own wishes.”
“Poor Mama,” Junie says.
Georgia nods, swallowing hard.
“So neither of you two are chosen or unchosen or really entirely meant to be one which way or the other. You’re just part of us, and you chose all the other parts.” Cece
sighs. “Georgia, I think your mama worried a lot about you feeling passed over, so she talked up your name as an opportunity.
She loved you as is—accomplishments or not. In hindsight, being honest was probably a better approach, but she did her best.”
“Life may have to keep hammering me over the head with the lesson,” Georgia says. “But I’m starting to believe that all we
have to give is our best.”
“And Junie,” Cece says. “You’re not a backup or a runner-up. Heavens, June wished you were a boy to save you from having to
catch the family hot potato.”
“I’ll admit, ‘hot potato’ sounds sort of fun,” Junie says. “Like a musical artist.”
A short laugh flies from Georgia.
“And by the way,” Cece says, “I am the firstborn daughter, not your mother.”
Junie lets out a gasp.
“How on earth?” Georgia says.
“Yes, another vote for how on earth,” Junie says.
“It’s the second layer to our family nonsense in the closet. I was born first, but there was a mix-up at the hospital. The
nurses thought our mother said Baby B was to be named June. I was Baby A, born first.”
“I’m so sorry.” Junie says it like it’s her fault. “I’m sure Mama felt awful that she took it from you.”
Cece sighs in reply. “Please stop before I have to whack you upside the head and risk messing up that glossy hair piece. You’re
missing the point. I’m not mad. I’m not upset. Lord knows my hair skills would never be up to running a salon, and I wouldn’t
be happy doing it. But let me get the rest out: Our grandmother Dot—once again—found out about the naming mix-up between me
and your mama, and she tried to force our mama to switch our names.” Cece laughs.
“I can’t picture June as a Cece. Anyhow, our mama lied. She told Terrible Dot she’d switched the names, and Dot never knew
the difference. We were newborns and barely distinguishable, but especially so for someone who didn’t spend much time with
us. Dot just thought she got her way, even if she did put our mama through the wringer in the process. Naturally, our mother
supported June in naming you Georgia or anything else she wanted.”
“But it still hurt, right?” Georgia says. “Missing out. Even if it’s silly, it never feels good to feel like you weren’t picked.”
Cece sees herself reflected in Georgia’s eyes; so much of them is the same.
“What I’m saying is that it shouldn’t have hurt,” Cece says.
“That we didn’t need to do the naming. That we’re all Louises regardless of our names.
That it takes more than one person to run the shop, and whoever wants to pitch in should—and however their skill set allows.
Like the past weeks have shown us, this shop needs everyone to operate. ”
“So how were things between you and Mama?” Georgia asks.
“I never held anything against her, and I think part of her felt guilty—”
“I know the feeling,” Junie says.
Georgia reaches over and pulls Junie’s hand into hers and squeezes. “I know neither of us is planning to have babies anytime
soon, but what do you say? We’ll just let the shop keep the name forevermore?”
Junie smiles. “Best idea I’ve heard today.”
Tina’s mouth bursts open in a sob. “I knew you two would be the ones to make this right. To change the path of the family.”
“And don’t break your word to each other on it.” Cece looks at them seriously. She believes them, and she believes in them.
“You can both make your mama the proudest she could ever be—by being the fresh start she wanted.”
Junie holds out her pinky finger.
Georgia twists hers into Junie’s.
“The higher the hair,” Junie says.
“The closer to God,” Georgia says.
And Tina and Cece (and perhaps most remarkably, Rich) reply, “In Dolly we trust.”