omg. ily. anyway... i was thinking they could have grown up together. maybe they didn't quite get along at first but it panned out. maybe they could have dated in high school? nothing super serious (unless you wanted to say they were first loves) but they split when he went to college. after all that, bridgette met her husband, was married to him for almost ten years only to get divorced.
regardless, he would have been a part of the support team and her rock.
and if you're not about any of that, i'm down to brainstorm.