1994: When her Cabot Mountaineer needed repairs, Rosanna went to Sparky's Garage, where Mike worked as a mechanic. Though they argued a lot at first, she started hanging out with him more after Evan's ruthless business tactics turned her off. Evan arranged for Mike's cruel parole officer, Doug, to give the ex-con a hard time, but that didn't stop the budding romance. Mike kissed Rosanna for the first time at Snyder Pond, and supported her when she learned from her aunt Lee that her cousin Carly (who had been missing for seven years) was actually her sister (they shared mom Sheila). At the same time, Evan plotted to break them up again, this time by persuading Alex to give Mike a job as a Cabot race-car driver — in exchange for giving up Rosanna. Mike turned down the rich man's offer and followed Ro to Musselshell, Montana, where she went to look for Carly. There, they first consummated their love. After, Rosanna told off her father, and Evan moved on to Barbara.

1995: Mike and Rosanna planned a trip to Florida, where he could race his car, Ludie Bell, but Doug wouldn't let him leave the state. The lovebirds got the sleazy parole officer to change his mind by threatening to expose his visits to a nearby brothel. In Florida, Mike proposed to Rosanna with the ring from a Cracker Jack box, then finished second in his race. He was ready to celebrate when he saw Ro holding his ring and laughing with a woman named Missy — the same ex-girlfriend who had set him up for the robbery that put him in prison. Thinking the ladies were making fun of him, Mike let his stubborn temper take over and stormed off. Ro chased after him, but found him kissing another woman, so she took off. It turned out Alex had paid Missy to manipulate the situation. Evan found out and felt bad for Ro, so he told her what her father had done. Mike also learned the truth and confronted Alex, who had a fatal heart attack during their argument. Mike was briefly arrested for murder, until the cause of death was determined to be natural. That didn't matter to Rosanna — she blamed Mike anyway. Then, Carly showed up out of the blue at Alexander's funeral, to Rosanna's delight. The sisters bonded, but when "Rosebud," having inherited the bulk of her father's fortune, announced that she would give much of it to charity, a money-hungry Carly secretly fumed. After Rosanna helped Mike with more troubles with the law, the two began to reconnect — but unfortunately, she didn't introduce him to her newfound sister. Mike was drowning his sorrows one night at Yo's when he ran into a devious Carly (who knew who he was). They had a one-night stand, and the next morning, Mike and Rosanna reunited. He was understandably shocked to "meet" his girlfriend's sibling shortly thereafter. Ro forgave him when he confessed about the fling (but not that it was with Carly), and they got engaged. Rosanna learned the sad truth about her sister's duplicity on her wedding day, when Carly schemed to let the bride overhear a conversation with Mike. Rosanna ripped off her wedding gown, handed it to Carly and sped off in her car, which she crashed. Mike pulled her from the wreckage, but Carly teamed with Scott to make sure the relationship was totalled for good.