A/N: To answer some questions regarding the 2-yr school vs a 4-yr 'institution', it's easier to secure a position quickly at a community college especially if you have a PhD and since he's 'starting over' it fits better and gets him physically home.

Thanks for the interest, reviews and alerts. I've reached a critical decision point so pls respond to the poll on my profile.


Chapter 3 Reinventing Dr. Cooper, PhD

Classes didn't start for a month and so he had plenty of time to clean up his Meemaw's place that he'd inherited, not that it was dirty or anything, just disused. He patched sections of fence and finished repairing the pole barn roof.

His Meemaw was in her grave less than a year and already the place was showing signs of neglect. The paint was peeling on the north and western sides of the house and the flowerbeds were overgrown with weeds.

Tomorrow he would tackle the timing belt on the old Ford pickup truck but for now, in the cooling spring evening, he sat on the porch drinking a cup of tea and let his mind wander.


Missy had picked him up at the train station in Houston and hadn't said much on the drive home. She loved her brother but didn't really feel comfortable around him. She was dim compared to his brilliance and she'd bullied him horribly growing up because of it.

"So, Shelly, you're home. For how long?" He'd made her promise not to tell his mother that he was coming home. He'd get around to it but Mary Cooper was a meddler and she'd meddle in his life and it had already been meddled with enough.

"I have a position at the County Community College and I start teaching in June. I have no intentions of returning to Pasadena. I've come home. I never should have left. I can't handle people and new places and so I've come home, Missy. Now, eyes on the road, please."

That had been all the explanation he'd given his sister and all that she required. She'd call Penny or Raj and get the truth out of them. Missy had thought about calling one other but wasn't sure if she was still at CalTech and besides, she probably wouldn't take her call. They hadn't exactly parted as friends.

That had been her plan. Call one of his friends, find out what happened, fix it, and send him back where he belonged.

"Missy, I can hear the cogs and gears and springs of your mind even over here. I want a promise from you, Melissa, a Sibling Promise. Should anyone inquire, do not tell them where I am. No exceptions, Missy. Sibling Swear it."

"Shelly, we're not 5 years old anymore. We're – " but he cut her off. "Swear it, Melissa. And my name is Lee Cooper. Sheldon is gone, dead, buried, better forgotten. I have to start over and 'Sheldon' carries too many bad memories. And you only called me 'Shelly' because it got me riled, so quit it."

Yes, it had been her plan to call one of his friends but one of them had called her so Sibling Swearing wasn't impossible for her. She'd already done what she would swear not to do in the future.

She remembered the conversation quite well since it came right on the heels of her brother's call to her to pick him up at the train station in Houston in 2 days.

"Missy, hi, it's Penny in Pasadena. Listen, I need your help. Sheldon's gone and we don't know where he's gone to just that he…oh, Missy, he left me all his stuff except for some clothes…his action figures, his comic books…please…do you know where he is?"

"Nope. Don't have a clue where he is but he'll be here in two days' time but I'm tellin' ya if Shelly don't want to talk to anybody he don't. You know how damned stubborn he is and it's gotten bad to worst since Memaw passed."

"When you see him, tell him I miss him and he needs to come back home. We can work on whatever's wrong and fix it."

"Oh, girlfriend, ya got it bad for my brother, doncha? Ain't gwine make not a nit of difference. Move on. He's not gwine be gittin' serious anytime soon – if ever. He done made that mistake once already and the boy does learn, 'ventually."

"What the hell does that mean, Missy? Quit talking in Texas riddles and just come out and say it, for God's sake."

"Not my tale to tell, Penny. You best wiggle it out of Shelly, if you can but promise me you won't hate him. I mean it, Penny, you promise me!"


Sheldon mentally added several items to his To Do list: call the county agent about livestock, check out his granddaddy's 'ride' and make whatever repairs were necessary and finally, go shopping for 'local clothing'. He'd left most of his t-shirts and other belongings with Penny, sending the rest ahead via UPS. There had been a huge stack of parcels on the front porch and it was a testament to his isolation and the morals of his few neighbors that they hadn't been stolen.

He fingered a tear in the knee of his plaid pants. The fabric was comfortable and suitable for a 'lab rat' but out in God's Country it was woefully inadequate. He moved shopping to the head of the list. The old Ford had sat for a year or more, another day or two wouldn't change anything. And besides, it started up once he'd primed the carburetor.


He called his sister and asked her to 'take me shopping at the Mall, Missy, and I'll buy you shoes'. Missy and Penny had similar tastes in men, liquor, clothes and…shoes.

"Y'know, big brother, ya gotta get a driver's license to get back and forth to school. I'm not driving you to school every day, that's for damned sure. I'll swing by the DMV and get you a booklet."

Over the next few days he accomplished more than he thought he would. In fact, he was almost done with the critical items on his listing – and he had a driver's license!


Sheldon vs The DMV

"Now, Mr. Cooper, your test was – "

"It's Doctor Cooper, not mister." He'd written that on his application. He had serious reservations about the quality of DMV personnel if they couldn't read.

"Yes, Doctor Cooper. Now, as I was saying, the test was a simple multiple-choice selection, not an essay test. You wrote answers on your test paper without choosing the available answer on our form in many instances. You failed the written part of the exam. Come back in 30 days and retake it."

"Wait just a goldarned minute here. I have an IQ of 187 and am a theoretical particle physicist. The options available were incorrect in most instances. For example, 'When is the road most slippery?' and the answers were trite and in most cases ignored the condition of the vehicle's tires and the composition of the road surface itself. Concrete is less slippery when wet than asphalt unless the heat is above 107F then asphalt becomes less slippery due to the accumulation of oily particles on the surface that increase the coefficient of friction and…"

"Okay, I'll give you that one. Now," she looked over the tops of her glasses at him, "you didn't answer the question about infants and toddlers requiring special restraint and…"

"Oh, that one wouldn't apply to me. I have no children and have no intentions of acquiring any. I skipped that one entirely as 'non-applicable'."

"Fine. I'll give you that one, too," she sighed and looked at the clock on the wall. She had lunch plans and this whacko was going to screw them up.

After 40 minutes of debate, Sheldon left the DMV (and a very hungry and upset clerk) with a Texas driver's license. He made her take the photograph twice because he didn't like the first photo.


His experience at the mall went much the same. He left with jeans, shirts, 'dress slacks', shirts and a pair of heavy-soled work boots. He also, for reasons that escaped him, ended up with several cell phone numbers tucked into various clothing items that he didn't find until he was back home. His sister just shook her head and giggled. He was such a buttwad and those girls were just sniffing around for a good time. As usual, he was oblivious to it all.

Sheldon had been by the hardware and feed and grain stores when he remembered item #6 on his To Do list.

He stopped by the T-Mobile shop (he always liked the commercial with the girl in the pink dress but really liked her when she wore the riding leathers) and had his phone changed over and a new number inserted. The clerk told him he had 43 missed calls and that the voicemail had maxxed out on his old number.

"Dump 'em. Don't want or need to hear 'em."

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry. Bad breakup?"

"The worst." He left the store with his new cell phone and an acquaintance. If he was going to live around here, he needed to loosen up and take the stick out of his butt (as his Queen had told him many, many times) and being 'friendly' was a step in the right direction.

He was getting back into the old Ford pickup when his phone trilled it's Wild Thing ring tone ('Dr. Cooper, this is definitely one you'll want, trust me') and it was Tammi the girl from the phone store. "Dr. Cooper, I just wanted to make sure ya'll's phone worked proper. And that ya'll got my private number if ya'll needed anything in the future. That's my ringtone so you'll know it's me."

"Excuse me, but 'you all' is redundant and improper English and 'ya'll' is such poor grammar and so stereotypically Texan that it's almost cute but I'll be sure and call 'y'all' if I need anything. And it's 'worked properly' and that's an adverb and - " Tammi hung up on him.

By the time he got back to 'his' house, he realized two things: the old Ford needed a water pump or a new radiator and he hadn't thought once about String Theory, the Nobel Prize or them since his return.


Sheldon being Sheldon, had his routines established before too long. Every evening he'd sit on his porch sipping Earl Grey tea and reviewing the day and planning the next. Tomorrow he'd check out his granddaddy's 'ride' and see what needed to be done. As far as he knew, no one had touched it since he died 10 years ago.

He did find that breaking his 'check the cell phone for messages or texts' habit was hard to break even knowing intellectually that no one would call him except those few whom he'd entrusted with his new number. And Tammi.

Tammi called him daily since he'd gotten his new cell phone to 'just talk' and he found himself enjoying her conversations since they reminded him of the Queen he'd left behind; they were utterly inane, pointless and vapid but they did give him something to look forward to.

He was lonely but lived with it. In less than 2 weeks he'd be back in Academia albeit the very lowest rung on the ladder but they hadn't bothered with too much of an interview process after checking his publications and his various references. They were damned glad to have him and he'd been granted tenure before working a day.

The county agent had brokered 2 Santa Gertrudis bulls delivered 'on spec' as well as 10 Santa Gertrudis and 20 long horn cows. Sheldon wanted to strengthen and develop the long horn since its meat was lower in cholesterol and fat, making it more attractive to Yuppies. The term 'Free Range Hormone-free' would apply to the Cooper brand and the price would reflect it.

Apparently he'd inherited his granddaddy's love of cattle ranching. Of course the cows would go to market sooner and the ranch would soon be self-sufficient.

He figured out early on that being a geneticist was a no-go after his grandmother caught him trying to create a griffin as a pet and his mom gave him a long lecture and a beating about 'messin' with God's Divine Plan'. Still, cows weren't much different than peas.

And he could always breed back to Bos Auroch.

He hadn't called his mother yet although he'd almost run into her twice in town. Their little community on the outskirts of Galveston wasn't all that big and it was only a matter of time until someone in her Prayer Group got wind of his return and the there'd be Hell to pay.

But until Judgment Day, he'd enjoy life as best he could.

A/N: I've got 6 chapters in the bag but have reached a decision point. Pls go to my profile and vote or live with what I write. Doesn't matter to me. I can go any of 3 ways depending on my mood.