1987: When Jack came to Pine Valley, he was immediately intrigued by Erica — who just happened to be engaged to his brother, Travis. The two forged a friendship and tried to ignore this flicker of attraction.

1988: Jack and Erica shared their first kiss, but she married Travis and they welcomed daughter Bianca into the world. Travis and Erica's happiness was short-lived; she filed for divorce when he orchestrated his own kidnapping to save himself from financial ruin, but the plan backfired and Bianca was taken for ransom.

1989: Erica took up with Jack after her split from Travis. The two fell deeply in love.

1990: Erica and Jack got engaged, but she hesitated to set a wedding date because little Bianca had her heart set on a reconciliation between her parents. Erica decided to remarry Travis for her daughter's sake; Jack was devastated. When Travis secretly took ex-wife Barbara to bed to produce a child who would hopefully be a compatible bone marrow donor for their own daughter, Molly, who had leukemia, Erica and Jack began an affair. Jack and Erica grabbed time together behind Travis's back.

1991: The longer Erica postponed breaking the news to Bianca that she and Travis were again headed for divorce, the more frustrated Jack became. Bianca spied Jack and Erica in a kiss and set fire to her Jack doll, nearly dying in the blaze that ensued. When Travis learned about the smooch that Bianca had witnessed, he sued Erica for custody. Jack refused to lie in court about his affair with Erica, so Travis won the case. In retaliation, Erica dumped Jack, who started keeping company with Brooke. On the rebound, Erica hooked up with Charlie Brent. She then received shocking news from Adam: Their 1984 divorce wasn't legit. He threatened to go public with the scandal if she didn't marry him again, so she reluctantly agreed. Jack got close to Brooke (Julia Barr) for a time.

1992: Still trapped in a loveless marriage to Adam, Erica fell hard for Dimitri Marick. But even after Adam granted her a divorce, she wasn't free to be with him: Dimitri was reluctant to leave his sickly wife, Angelique (with whom Jack was briefly involved). Jack and Erica were far apart this year.