Facebook: Number of friends on friends-list MORE THAN number of friends who actually appear there.?

[The Amish Pianist]

I have a very small network on Facebook -sorry, i am not terribly interested in social media. Being that i have so few "friends," i notice much of what goes on. I recently "friended" a good family friend, and his timeline has showed that, after adding me, he had 8 friends. But, counting the actual number of friend's photos that appear in the friends-section, why are there consistently only 7 FACES? Now, to my surprise and festering curiosity, his friends-list now shows 9 friends, yet there are still only 7 faces shown! And, yes, my face has consistently appeared on his list.
Does this type of activity imply that he is trying to hide certain friendships? Am i, perhaps, the only one who cannot see those other 2 friends? I just checked my husband's profile, and those 2 friends are not visible from his account either. Some of the Facebook privacy settings are still a mystery to me, but so far, i haven't been able to find a definitive answer through google either.
Someone please help me to not lose any more sleep than i already have! Yes, this person means a lot to me, and i am concerned about him still harboring "unhealthy previous associations."
Thank you for your response, but my husband and i actually do not know ANY of "the man in question's" other contacts, so i think it would not be likely that "they" have chosen to block us. Another fact, we have only been on "the man in question's" friends-list for a week now.
Can "the man in question" be blocking OUR ability to see HIS FRIENDS?
Also, "deactivated accounts" doesn't quite address why his friends-list went from 8 to 9 overnight, yet there remain only 7 friend faces. Seems he's ADDED a friend...but how?!?

[abraXus]

no, it means either some of his friends have deactivated their account, or it means one or both of the missing people have you and your husband blocked

[Daniel]

The Missing People That Are Not There Are Because They Deactivated There Account

The Friend Count Includes Deactivated Accounts

its Possible He Could've added Somebody and Than Later on They Deactivated There Account