Page 135 of As They Are
“Mom picked those out,” he said. “They were a product of the time.”
I followed the pictures. They were in order of age, which allowed me to see him grow up. He grew taller and taller, just like I had. I was fascinated with childhood photos, mostly because I had none. Mom didn’t think I was photo worthy. Dad didn’t have enough time to take them.
Eventually, I paused over one where Henry was in a suit. He still had the soft angles of a teenager and was with a shorter girl with blonde hair. She was in a yellow dress and had a carnation. She was beautiful.
“That was his prom,” Colleen explained. “You and Norah were a cute couple.”
I blinked. He’d said he’d been with someone who’d moved on very quickly. Was this her? Was this why I’d heard from people in town that he’d never dated anyone?
Was he hung up on her?
I could see why.
“She lives down the road now,” Colleen mused.
“She’s married,” Henry added. “To Ace. He took this photo.”
“Still think that was weird. I mean, your ex and your best friend? I thought there was some sort of code for that.”
“It was years ago, it’s fine.”
It didn’t sound fine. I turned to Henry, whose shoulders were now tense.
I wanted to know everything, but he made it clear that he didn’t want that from me. Even as friends, he had walls up. I doubted he wanted me to know this.
“Oh well.” I feigned calm, something I was too good at. “He ended up where he was supposed to.”
“He has you,” Colleen said with a smile. “Let me get you two some snacks. Now, I’m sure you know this, but Henry’s favorite is string cheese, but only one particular brand.”
We followed her into the kitchen where she rummaged through the fridge.
“I can eat other things now,” Henry said. “Like vegetables.”
“But only the carrots cut like chips.”
He winced. “The crunch is better. The other ones are too loud.”
“That’s adorable,” I said. “Does Food ‘n’ Things carry that?”
“I asked Dale to order them.”
I was going to soak up every second of this. I was finally getting information on the man who was in all of my thoughts. Colleen brought out the string cheese and Henry wasted no time grabbing one. I did the same.
“Mollie and I tried to make queso from these once by melting them in the microwave. Her mom had to explain that they were two totally different kinds of cheese.”
“You ruined good string cheese in the microwave?” Henry looked at me like I’d stepped on a puppy.
Colleen laughed. “You’ve committed a sin.”
“Oops, sorry,” I said before taking a bite out of the top.
“Wren!” Henry grabbed the cheese from my hand. “You monster!”
“What?”
“That’s not how you eat string cheese. You peel it.” He demonstrated and peeled off one edge.
“Is that why they call it string cheese? I thought you just ate it like regular cheese.”
