בעלה היה צריך לחזור מוקדם הביתה, אבל הייתה לו עוד פגישה.

בעלה means her husband.

It is made from:

• בעל = husband
• the possessive ending -ה = her

So instead of saying the husband of her, Hebrew can attach the possession directly to the noun.

A more analytic alternative would be הבעל שלה, but בעלה is shorter and very natural.

Because Hebrew often shows possession by attaching a suffix to the noun itself.

So:

• בעלה = her husband
• not necessarily הבעל שלה

Both patterns exist in Hebrew, but attached endings are very common in certain words and styles.

היה צריך means had to, needed to, or sometimes was supposed to, depending on context.

Literally, צריך is something like in need of / required to, and היה puts it in the past.

So:

• הוא צריך לחזור = he needs to return
• הוא היה צריך לחזור = he needed to return / had to return

In this sentence, it gives the idea that returning home early was the plan or obligation.

Because it agrees with בעלה, which is masculine singular.

Hebrew words like צריך change to match the subject:

• צריך = masculine singular
• צריכה = feminine singular
• צריכים = masculine plural
• צריכות = feminine plural

Since בעלה is one male person, צריך is the correct form.

Because after צריך, Hebrew normally uses an infinitive with ל־.

So:

• צריך לחזור = needs to return
• צריך ללכת = needs to go
• צריך לעבוד = needs to work

Here, לחזור is the infinitive to return / to come back.

הביתה is a special form meaning home / homeward / to home.

The final ־ה here is an old directional ending, so the idea of movement to a place is already built in. That is why you do not need ל־.

So:

• לחזור הביתה = to return home

By contrast:

• לבית = to the house
• לביתה = to her house / to her home

In this sentence, הביתה is the normal, idiomatic choice for home.

Here מוקדם means early, and it functions adverbially.

Hebrew often uses adjective forms where English would use a separate adverb.

So:

• מוקדם can mean early
• לחזור מוקדם = to return early

You do not need a special adverb form.

Because the verb agrees with פגישה, not with the husband.

The structure is basically:

• הייתה לו עוד פגישה
• literally: there was to him another meeting

Since פגישה is a feminine singular noun, the verb is הייתה.

Compare:

• הייתה לו פגישה = he had a meeting
• היה לו דיון = he had a discussion

Here דיון is masculine, so the verb would be masculine.

לו means to him.

Hebrew often expresses possession with a structure like there is/was to someone.

So:

• יש לו פגישה = he has a meeting
• הייתה לו פגישה = he had a meeting

This is a very common Hebrew pattern.

Here עוד means another, one more, or an additional.

So:

• עוד פגישה = another meeting

In other contexts, עוד can also mean still or yet, but not here.

Because Hebrew often leaves out a subject pronoun when the meaning is already clear.

The sentence already introduced בעלה, and the second clause naturally continues talking about him.

So אבל הייתה לו עוד פגישה sounds completely normal without repeating הוא.

If you added הוא, it would usually sound more emphatic than necessary.

Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, and both can be possible.

• לחזור מוקדם הביתה
• לחזור הביתה מוקדם

Both can mean to return home early. The difference is mostly one of rhythm or emphasis, not core meaning.

The version in your sentence is perfectly natural.