Nick McHenry's life was changed forever the day he met Mindy Lewis in 1991. A journalist in New York City, Nick was confused as to why this beautiful woman seemed so startled to see him. When Mindy finally told him that he was the spitting image of a man she knew years ago named Lujack, Nick became intrigued and followed her to Springfield so he could find out about his double. In the coming months, he learned more than he bargained for. Upon arriving in town, he met the wealthy Alexandra Spaulding who insisted that he was her long lost son, whom her lover had sold. At first Nick scoffed at the idea since he wasn't adopted. However soon the evidence started to mount that perhaps Nick wasn't who he thought he was. Though he wanted to go back to New York, Alexandra thwarted his efforts to get a job there. After discovering that Alex's son, Lujack, died on the exact day that Nick had a sudden horrible premonition, Nick started to investigate the possibility. Throughout all of this, Nick was becoming close to Mindy (to Alex's dismay) and the two eventually became engaged in February 1992. Then Alex brought her old lover Eric Luvonaczek to town and he claimed to be Nick's father. However, Nick believed that Eric was lying because Alex paid him to. Later, Eric confessed to Mindy in a letter that Nick was in fact a Spaulding but he would let her decide if she would tell Nick the truth; Mindy kept quiet. Finally, when Nick learned that his long-dead father, Kip McHenry, regretted not telling him something, he started to really suspect that it was true and submitted to the DNA test. When the tests showed that Nick was not a Spaulding, he was relieved but still confused because of all the overwhelming evidence.

Disapproving of Mindy, Alex and her ex-husband Roger conspired to keep the couple apart and used Nick's secret ex-love Eve Guthrie from Cambrai as the key. Though Eve refused to help Roger, she did come to Springfield. Roger made sure Mindy witnessed the ex-lovers reunion. Eve told Nick she was trying to get his best friend Paul Wyland out of a political prison in Cambrai. Nick was shocked to learn that Eve was married to Paul. He helped Eve rescue Paul, and Paul told Nick that Eve had only married him to try to save him from jail. Eve decided to follow Nick to Springfield and started working at Cedars. Miffed that Roger hadn't stopped Nick and Mindy's wedding plans, Alex threatened to tell Hart that Roger had swindled the Jessup farm away from his grandfather. Roger quieted her by telling her why the DNA results were negative--Mindy changed them! He also arranged for Nick to be arrested on his way back from Cambrai so he wouldn't get home in time for the wedding. Alex then convinced Mindy that Nick had left her because he'd learned she'd tampered with his DNA test. Mindy left town. Nick arrived at the church to find Alex, who told him Mindy had changed the results of the test. Nick refused to believe it, but after he got a letter from Mindy in which she returned her engagement ring and admitted to changing the test, Nick finally acknowledged to Alex that she was his mother. She was elated until he said he couldn't forgive her for all she'd done.

Shocked, Nick wanted to confront Mindy about what she'd done, but unfortunately she'd skipped town and Nick was later unable to meet her in New York. Alone and confused, Nick turned to Eve who was now divorced from Paul and wanted a future with Nick. In January 1993, Mindy returned to patch up her relationship with Nick just as he was surprising Eve with two tickets to the Caribbean. Eve warned Mindy to stay away from Nick. Later, Eve found photos of Nick with Mindy, and her boss, Ed Bauer, watched as she ripped them to shreds. Mindy later found the pictures Eve had tried to destroy. Nick confronted Eve, who denied any involvement. Ed then caught Eve trying to break into Mindy's medical records and threatened to suspend her. After a fight with Mindy at the Towers, Eve smashed her own windshield with a shovel and claimed Mindy had done it. Ignoring Mindy's warnings, Nick stood by Eve but began to doubt her when she donned a blond wig and dressed up like Mindy for a date with him. When Nick caught Eve lying about Mindy, he broke up with her, which sent Eve on a rampage. At a bridal fashion show to mark Mindy's return as a designer, Eve drugged Mindy's water bottle, and Mindy got into an accident while driving home with little Billy (her brother). Nick then found evidence linking Eve to the crash, but it disappeared before the police investigation. Then Eve tried to attach Mindy at the lighthouse. When Nick and Ed arrived, Eve threatened to jump off the observation deck. Ed talked her down and took her to a psychiatric center for treatment. After Billy and Vanessa's wedding, Nick and Mindy rediscovered their romantic feelings and made love.

Unfortunately the couple again broke up when Mindy still saw Eve (who was now released from the sanatorium) as a threat in their lives. During the breakup, Mindy dated Macauley West while Nick and Harley investigated the circumstances of Davenport's murder in an effort to help David Grant. They finally discovered that the real murderer was Norrie Ryan and not Gilly Grant. After the Davenport case, Nick and Mindy found their way back to each other while Nick learned Alex's yacht had been shipwrecked and Alex was listed as missing. Fletcher finally tracked down Alex in Singapore and just missed catching her at the airport as she headed back to Springfield. The thought of almost losing his mother scared Nick and he decided to get to know her better. Despite Alex's dismay, Nick and Mindy finally married in March 1994.

In time, Nick began to understand Alex, he moved into the family mansion and changed his name to Spaulding. After Alex wanted to name Nick as President of Spaulding Enterprises, Nick was set up by Alan with his henchwoman and was falsely accused of murdering her. When Nick saw her alive, he realized Alan's schemes and became the President. Sadly, his marriage to Mindy suffered when Alex forced him to conspire against Lewis Oil to convince Vanessa to sell her Spaulding shares to Alex. In early 1995, Nick quit his job at Spaulding and reconciled with Mindy, with surprising encouragement from Alex. But when he realized that Mindy was more interested in adopting a child than in him, Nick divorced her amicably.

Later, Nick met Susan Bates, a woman who was HIV+ and the two fell in love. A bright woman, Susan suspected that Marian Crane (Brent Lawrence) altered Lucy Cooper's medical records but was unable to convince Lucy of that. Marian decided to get rid of Lucy once and for all, but when she tried to attack her in the shower she found Susan there instead. Marian knocked Susan unconscious, and Nick found her. At Cedars, Alex interrupted just as Marian was about to unplug Susan's respirator. Susan soon awoke from her coma and told Frank Cooper that it was Marian who attacked her. She also accepted Nick's proposal. When Susan was diagnosed with AIDS, Nick realized that life was fleeting and decided to write off Spaulding Enterprises and left on an extended honeymoon with Susan in February 1996. Nick and Susan returned to Springfield on Christmas 1996 to convince Alexandra (who was embroiled in power plays at Spaulding) to travel the globe with them.