Page 99 of Thin Ice

"I don't know."

I sat up. He sat up beside me.

I answered.

"Alex. It's Coach Eldridge."

His voice was different than I expected. Not the office voice, the one from development conversations and disciplinary meetings and the measured authority of a man who ran a program that cost more than most people's mortgages. This was quieter. Careful.

"Coach?"

"I heard about what happened with your family. I'm sorry."

I didn't say anything. Liam was watching me, his hand on my knee.

"I want you to know something," Eldridge said. "Your father contacted the board in December about the endowment review."

My chest tightened.

"He withdrew the review."

I blinked. "What?"

"Quietly. No board vote, no formal documentation. He simply informed the committee that his concerns had been addressed and withdrew the request. The funding stands. The scholarships are protected. Nothing changes for any of the athletes in the program."

I sat there. My phone pressed to my ear. Liam's hand was on my knee. The hallway light under the door.

Thomas had bluffed. Or he'd meant it and then backed off because pulling the funding would mean admitting publicly that a Harrington had been rejected by his own son. Either way, the result was the same. He'd never tarnish the name. The name was all he had.

"Everyone's safe?" I said.

"Everyone's safe."

Relief.

"But Alex. I need to be honest with you about your enrollment."

"Okay."

"The bursar's office contacted me last week. Your spring registration is on hold. Without tuition payment by the fifteenth, you won't be enrolled. And without enrollment, I can't have you on the roster. My hands are tied."

"I know."

"Are you okay, Alex?"

The question surprised me. Not the words. The way he said them. Like he was asking as a person and not as a coach.

"I don't know," I said. "I don't know what I'm going to do next."

Liam's hand tightened on my knee.

Eldridge was quiet for a moment. I could hear something in the background. His office, maybe. The hum of the boathouse heating system.

"I can't bring you into my program," he said. "I want to be clear about that. I don't have the mechanism. The scholarship pool is allocated and the enrollment process doesn't have a provision for your situation. I've looked at it from every angle."

"I understand."

"But I spoke with Coach Hale."